Unnoticed
by ladygris
Summary: Major Lorne returned from Pegasus in the line of duty.  He never wanted to be noticed for his actions.  Then, he noticed someone else.  Companion piece to "Unexpected."
1. Loss

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Stargate: Atlantis or any of its characters. I do, however, own the original characters. Any similarity between these original characters and any other person, living or fictional, is entirely coincidental and not the intent of the author.

**Author's Foreword: ** First of all, this is a companion, not a sequel. A sequel follows the characters through various story lines or continues story lines throughout several stories. This one, however, simply adds to the universe of _"Unexpected." _Lorne might seem a little OOC in parts of this, and that was by design. I wanted to explore the more personal and slightly darker side of his personality that was never truly seen on SGA. I hope that, by the time you get to that portion of the story, I will have built enough tension and danger to show an adequate change in how he thinks and feels. So, without further ado, here is the first chapter of _"Unnoticed."_ Review and let me know what you think! ~lg

oOo

Loss

Colorado Springs, late 2005. . . .

The stand-off began around 0700 with a domestic disturbance. Officer Mark Davies crouched behind the hood of his squad car, weapon at the ready. In the three hours since the original call to 911, the domestic violence situation had devolved into a stand-off, with the irate, now-hung-over husband holding his wife and step-children hostage. Very cliché, in Mark's mind. Only the arrival of the children's birth father could have made it any more cliché.

"Uh, oh."

Mark glanced at the detective next to him and saw a new face on the scene. "The real dad?"

"Yep."

"Great." Mark readjusted his position to keep an eye on the house and the newcomer. Other officers had cornered the man, who frantically tried to get to his children. From what Mark had been able to surmise, the woman had divorced this guy due to several infidelities and married someone far more faithful but very abusive. Too bad these children experienced something like this.

The shooting began shortly after the birth father's arrival. While the man struggled with the other officers, a single bullet whizzed through a broken window, narrowly missing one of the officers detaining the frantic man. Shouts of "Shots fired!" and "Hold your fire!" echoed around the neighborhood. Mark had never been in a hostage situation, and his training took over. He dropped behind the car for a moment and then looked around to assess the situation.

The hostage negotiator held up his hands and called out, "What's going on in there? We don't want anyone hurt from an accident. Just let us know what we can do for you."

A moment later, a shout came from the house. "Get him away from us!" Well, that was the gist of the demand. It was delivered in a lot more colorful and violent language. Mark's senses honed, and he felt the rush of adrenaline that his military buddies described as occurring just before a firefight.

Several things happened at once. The officers restraining the birth father began to remove him from the scene. The birth father screamed and cursed, swearing that he'd kill anyone who hurt his kids. As a father, Mark couldn't blame him. If anyone tried to hurt his little Jessie, he'd rip the man apart. Screaming and cursing weren't enough for this father, however, and he managed to break free from the officers. In his mad dash for the front of the house, he passed right by Mark. Mark never thought about it. He jumped from his position and tackled the guy, ignoring the gunshots and searing pain shooting through his body. He landed on top of the father and groaned. How had that happened? His vest was supposed to protect him.

The stand-off ended shortly after that when the abused wife reacted instinctively to protect her children. She also managed to get shot in the process, but no other officers went down.

Mark lay on the pavement as EMTs from a nearby ambulance worked over him. The bullet had apparently entered under his arm and penetrated a lung. He felt the blood pooling under him and coughed. "God!"

"Stay calm," an EMT advised.

Yeah, right. Mark wanted to tell the man that he couldn't stay calm. He knew what had happened. Rather than dwelling, he stared at the sky. "Lea. . . ."

The detective who had been next to him hovered just in his line of sight. "I'll let her know what happened. She'll be with you at the hospital as soon as they get there. And don't you worry about that little girl. We'll see that she's cared for 'til you get better. You just hang in there, Mark. You hear me? Hang in there!"

Mark tried. He blinked and held on to consciousness as long as possible. In the end, however, he couldn't hold his eyes open. As they closed, he muttered, "Lea. . . .Jessie. . . .Daddy loves you. . . .I love you. . . ."

oOo

Why had she ever decided to have children? Lea Davies dropped into her chair at ten in the morning, already exhausted. At one year old, Jessica had her father's energy and stubborn will. She'd awakened with a slight cold and fever but refused to slow down enough to heal. She had finally collapsed into a much-needed nap about ten minutes ago. Lea intended to enjoy the quiet.

As soon as the coffee pot finished its work, she poured a cup, adding sugar and French vanilla creamer. Then, she settled into the recliner next to a window. Soft piano music filled the house, partially for Jessie's benefit. Lea picked up her book and began to read.

The knock sounded a few moments later. Lea jumped up and glanced into Jessie's room. The little girl never stirred. Grateful that the visitors had thought to knock softly, she cracked the door. One of the detectives from her husband's station and another man she'd never seen before waited for her. She stared. "Oh, no."

"May we come in, Mrs. Davies?"

Lea swung the door wide, ignoring the introductions as she waited for the news. "What happened?"

"I'm sorry, Mrs. Davies." The detective took her elbow when she staggered. "I am so sorry to inform you that your husband was killed this morning in the line of duty."

"No!" she moaned as her knees buckled. "No, no, no, no!"

The other man, probably a new detective based on his suit, moved to catch her as she fell. He winced slightly, and Lea noticed it only because her senses had sharpened with the rush of adrenaline. The tears came after that, and she turned her face into his shoulder and wept bitterly.

oOo

A week later, Lea stood in the living room of her home, staring and listening to the silence. Her mother had come for the funeral and taken Jessie to the hotel with her. The little girl asked for her father daily. Mark made a habit of racing around the house, playing with his daughter right after he came home. She hadn't been able to play that game in several days. Lea had tried, but Jessie refused and asked for her daddy.

Now, Lea moved through the empty house. She hadn't truly slept in days. That first night, she'd sat on the couch, her husband's pillow in her arms as she cried. Jessie found her the next morning, sleeping on the couch out of pure exhaustion. After that, Lea had tried to keep to a normal bed time. She bathed her daughter and put her to bed, going through the same ritual for the sake of the little girl. But, as soon as Jessie's breathing evened out, she always rose and wandered to the living room. She tried to read. She surfed the 'net. She did everything she knew to find some measure of rest. But nothing filled the ache inside. When Mark's funeral came, she was so exhausted that she relied on the information he'd written down the day he'd entered the police academy. The threat of death had always been in the background, but Lea had never really considered it until now.

The pressure building in her chest became too great, and she let out a long wail. The wail turned into aching sobs, and she let her knees buckle. How was she to get through this? She curled into a ball and wept until she fell asleep.

~TBC


	2. Home

Return

Colorado Springs, mid-2009. . . .

"Thank you, Sir."

"No problem. I'll have the rest of your stuff delivered soon."

"Yes, Sir." Major Evan Lorne grabbed the duffel bag from the back seat of his CO's car.

Lt. Colonel John Sheppard waved. "Enjoy your leave."

"Yes, Sir," Lorne muttered again as he watched the car drive away. Two months of leave. Two months away from Atlantis, Rodney McKay, and the bad guys that the Milky Way had to offer.

He stared at the front of the house and considered his approach. Four years ago, he left for his "overseas" posting, and his landlord agreed to maintain the apartment for an indefinite amount of time. He'd been back once, during the incident where General O'Neill and Mr. Woolsey had been trapped by the Replicators, but he hadn't stayed here. His assignment to one of the SGC's teams happened almost immediately, resulting in his use of on-base quarters.

The house had changed. Lorne allowed his gaze to roam over the property. His apartment, a converted garage, peeked from behind the house, and it appeared that Mark had installed a gravel walkway between the front door and the rear drive. Lorne knew his truck waited for him, and he wondered if it would even run. Then, he shook his head. Of course the truck still ran. Before he left, he made arrangements with Mark to drive the truck occasionally as well as care for the property. And he increased his rent to compensate. After all, he barely made it home between missions with the SGC anyway.

The front door opened, and a woman stepped outside. Lorne blinked, barely remembering the day Mark informed him that he'd missed the wedding. The woman blinked at him as if she'd been awakened from a sound sleep. "Can I help you?"

"Ah. . . ." He pasted a grin on his face. "Evan Lorne."

She blinked again, this time in surprise. "Oh. Right. Sorry." She slipped some sandals on her feet and stepped off the porch to shake his hand. "Lea Davies."

Lorne shook her hand and motioned to the apartment. "I know I'm arriving unannounced, but. . . ."

"Right," she said again. "You have a key?"

"Right here." Lorne hated the awkwardness. He hadn't felt this awkward around a woman in years.

She escorted him to the apartment and waited while he unlocked the door. In spite of the awkwardness, Lorne smiled as he entered the apartment. He was home. The comfort in that thought helped the residual tension to fade from his mind.

The apartment was terribly bland. The garage had been built to accommodate a large RV. The vaulted ceilings met high windows that ran along the entirety of the one room acting as kitchen, dining area, and living area. Carpet and furniture in shades of gray accented glass-and-metal tables and stainless steel appliances. The white walls waited for color to fill them. The neutral palette had appealed to his inner artist years ago. Now, it begged for him to paint something and break the monotony. He had become accustomed to colorful walls while on Atlantis.

"Welcome home," Lea said politely. Lorne took the time to really look at her. She had long blond hair so smooth it seemed to fold over her shoulders, a round pixie face, and eyes that couldn't decide if they were blue or green. Right now, they settled on a shade somewhere between the two. She stood no higher than his nose, and her denim skirt and tailored blouse accented her slender curves to perfection. She noticed his scrutiny and raised an eyebrow. "Something wrong?"

"No." He smiled reassuringly. "It's just a little overwhelming. I've been out of the country for years, so being here is a little like culture shock."

"I can imagine."

He glanced at her left hand as she tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. She wasn't wearing a wedding ring. He decided to probe a little. "How's Mark doing?"

Her face fell, and her eyes turned blue. The instantaneous change surprised him. "He's dead," she said in a sad voice. "Hostage situation gone bad."

"I'm sorry." He really was. He'd liked Mark Davies, and he'd been thrilled that the man had found his match. Now, he wondered if he had blundered by mentioning the man's name.

Lea let out a deep breath. "Well, I should let you settle in."

"Thanks." Lorne smiled again and watched her leave. She kept her chin up and moved gracefully around the front of her home. He wondered how he would fare with a lady that pretty nearby. The knowledge that she'd been married to a good friend would probably keep things from getting too serious.

Once Lea disappeared, Lorne pulled the radio from his pocket. "This is Lorne. The area's secure." A moment later, brilliant light filled the room. It faded, leaving a stack of crates and a few paintings. Lorne moved quickly, catching his landscape before it hit the floor. The sunset over the Golden Gate bridge was one of his favorites. He'd painted it several months ago, intending to hang it on the large wall of his living room. The warm reds and oranges reminded him of Atlantis, and he needed that bit of familiarity.

As he unpacked the remainder of his belongings, he thought over the last several months. Atlantis arrived on Earth in the middle of January, splashing down just outside of San Francisco Bay. At first, none of the Atlantis expedition had been allowed to leave the city. Being that close to home had irritated him. He'd never struggled with severe homesickness until then. Seeing the Golden Gate bridge and the skyline of his home city stirred something in him. When he'd finally been allowed to leave Atlantis, he never wanted to go back.

Now, he wasn't so sure of his future. Lorne carried the crates of clothing to the bedroom built onto the garage and set about arranging his closet. After a week with his family, he'd been recalled to the SGC for debriefing. He spent a month telling every detail he could remember of his time in Pegasus, as well as his role in the recent Wraith defeat above Earth. Those events caused him to remember Pegasus with fondness. At least he'd been a galaxy away from the pencil-pushing politicians.

Several members of the IOA hinted at a promotion during his debrief. Lorne shook his head. At one time, he'd wanted to become a general in the Air Force. He still did. His ambitions for his career had shifted slightly, though. He knew what dangers awaited Earth. He'd faced them and won. Now, he wanted to become a general that actually did something to protect his planet rather than allowing himself to be drawn into the politics of defense.

The desire to return to Pegasus surprised him. He'd spent all that time missing his family and wishing to be back home for momentous occasions. He had made it for one cousin's wedding, but her marriage to an Air Force colonel working for the SGC helped a little. His other cousin, however, had received a taped video containing congratulations. His sister returned to school and became a nurse. And his mother retired from teaching college-level art. All of these changes happened while he'd been stuck on Atlantis. At those times, he'd almost driven himself crazy with the homesickness. Now, he realized that he wasn't missing Earth. He missed his family. "Home" was Atlantis. "Home" was where he was needed.

Would they ever return to Pegasus? Now that the IOA had Atlantis on Earth, the desire for a quick return lost itself in the maze of politics, ambition, and desires. Most of the crew liked Earth and wanted to stay here. Lorne knew he fell into a small percentage of those who wanted to return. Every scientist of the expedition had complained in some form or fashion. Even Rodney McKay, who loved saving everyone's behinds multiple times over, pined for Earth.

Tired of the questions and his thoughts, Lorne checked his wallet and found his keys. He'd spent so much time in Atlantis flying Puddle Jumpers that he wasn't sure how to feel about needing keys to drive his truck. Or the speed limits. Several times on their short drive from the SGC, Sheppard had slowed down in order to stay under the legal limit. Lorne grinned as he realized he'd now have the same problem. He'd never been a speed demon, but flying through the atmosphere at extreme speeds dulled one's sensitivity. As he climbed into his truck, he sighed. He had two months to paint, think, and decide what his future held. Once those two months ended, he'd return to Atlantis with a clear picture of himself. Or so he hoped.

oOo

Lea watched from her kitchen window as Lorne backed his truck from the rear driveway. She'd always liked the private entrance to the property, thankful that he wouldn't have to walk near the house every time he went somewhere. And he probably appreciated the private entrance as well.

Evan Lorne wasn't what she'd pictured when Mark told her about their tenant. She'd always pictured someone taller, close to if not over six feet tall, muscular, and with a hard expression on his face. She couldn't have been further from the truth. Lorne was muscular, but he only stood about five-nine. She liked the fact that she wouldn't have to crane her neck to look at him. His blue eyes sparkled with amusement most of the time, and he'd seemed genuinely troubled by news of Mark's death. Lea breathed a prayer of gratefulness that he hadn't been blessed with light curly hair. She would have dissolved into tears right then. Mark's hair had been a nightmare to cut, and she remembered many heated arguments about his hairstyle.

Lorne's arrival changed things, she realized. Lea moved away from the window and set her coffee cup in the sink. She'd been sipping the coffee when he first arrived. Her stomach tied itself in knots after their brief conversation, and she chose to forego coffee for the rest of the day. She was too wound up, anyway.

A knock sounded shortly after Lorne drove away. Lea answered the door and blinked. "Samuel. Come in."

Her friend, tall with dark hair, slipped past her and frowned. "I was on my way past and noticed that someone is home," he said, motioning toward the back of the house as he did so.

"Yeah." Lea turned to sit in her favorite chair, hating the blush that covered her face. "That's Major Evan Lorne, USAF. I'd never met him until today."

Samuel settled on the couch. "You okay?"

"I don't know." Lea decided to be honest. Samuel had been the one to hold her when she received news of Mark's death. Since then, he'd become a close friend. "I mean, it'll be nice to see those windows lit up at night. But I'm not entirely sure I'm ready to have another man around the house."

He nodded even as his eyes roved the living room. "I don't want to sound callous, but you could use it."

"I know." She let out a deep sigh. "There's only so much I can do, and I realize that. It's just that. . . ."

"What?"

She closed her eyes, hating how her next words would sound. "I'm lonely. It's been three years. And I'm not sure. . . ."

Samuel smiled gently as he realized what she tried to say. "I understand." He looked around again. "So, where's Jessie?"

"With Marissa." Lea smiled. "We got the day off because Marissa wanted to take Jessie to the zoo. I think it has something to do with her own little one coming soon."

"Really? Marissa's expecting?"

"Yep."

"Good for them."

The two sat a chatted about their lives in general. By the time Samuel left, Lea managed to recover some of her normal calm. _God, help me,_ she prayed as she prepared to pick up her daughter. _Keep me from making a colossal mistake where the major is concerned_.

~TBC


	3. Meeting

**Author's Note: **For those of you hoping for another two chapters today, I'm sorry that I won't be able to oblige. I've got meetings all day, and so getting this one edited and ready took some extra time. I simply posted the first two chapters in one day to tie Lea in with Lorne. Otherwise, you would have been wondering what this woman had to do with SGA. So, each time I post from now on will only be one chapter for that day. Other than that, enjoy the story and let me know what you think. ~lg

Meeting

Early the next morning, Lea sat in her back yard, enjoying the sunshine as the morning progressed. She'd slept well the night before, something that wasn't a common occurrence in recent days. Jessie had returned home thoroughly exhausted and happy. She chattered about the animals she'd seen at the zoo and "Aunt Marissa's" reactions to some of the smells. Lea laughed as the little girl mimicked Marissa's wrinkled nose. At three months pregnant, Marissa struggled with an extreme sensitivity to smells.

Footsteps on the gravel of the driveway brought her head up from where she'd been staring at her Bible. Lorne rounded the corner, hair standing on end in places. She'd seen him head out for a morning run a while back and shook her head. She remembered how Mark always found the time to run. Mark always wanted his coffee immediately after his run, too. Lea's eyes cut to the small table beside her wrought iron bench, and she considered the insulated carafe and its companions.

"Mornin'." Lorne waved as he walked around his truck.

_No time like the present,_ she thought. She returned the wave. "Good morning. Would you care to join me for some coffee?"

He stared at her for a moment, seemingly evaluating her. Finally, he nodded. "Sure. Just give me a couple minutes."

"Of course." Lea set her Bible aside and wondered if she'd taken the right step. She needed to get to know her tenant. After all, he'd rented the apartment before she even met Mark. Now that he'd returned home, she needed to have a friendship with him in order to live so close to him.

It didn't help that the man was distractingly attractive. Lea considered this as he appeared several minutes later in a fresh shirt. His blue eyes sparkled, and he had a ready smile. Lines around his eyes indicated he laughed often, but she also saw evidence of military life. That firm jaw could harden in an instant, leaving someone feeling afraid to turn their back on him.

"Cream or sugar?" Lea asked as he approached.

"Ah. . .both." He seemed to decide as he looked at the arbor in which she sat.

She grinned as she added a touch of sugar to his cup and poured in the creamer. "You know, Mark wanted it hot and black. Any other way, and he'd get cranky."

"My CO is like that." Lorne accepted the coffee cup, thankful that it was the size of a mug and not a teacup. "Normally, I'm like that."

"Really?" She felt her eyebrows rise. "What changed?"

"Well, sitting in a picture-perfect arbor justifies the change in routine, as does the company." He eyed her with a faint smile on his face. "Sharing coffee with a pretty lady also justifies it."

Lea flushed even as she sensed he wasn't coming on to her. Mark always spoke highly of Major Lorne, and she refused to doubt the man's sincerity. Instead, she chose to focus on an easy topic. "So, how long do you have before you return to duty?"

"Two months." He grinned then, and she struggled to breathe. He had dimples? "Don't plan to do much beyond paint and enjoy the time off."

"You paint? As in artwork?"

"Yeah." His voice changed as he talked, moving from a direct tone to something warm and gentle. "My mom taught art for years, and we painted on the weekends. My sister never continued, but I did."

"I'd love to see some of your work, sometime."

He smiled at her. "I'll have to keep that in mind." He paused to sip his coffee and then asked, "What about you? What do you do to stay busy?"

"You mean besides being a single mom to a four-and-a-half-year-old?" She shrugged. "I work for a case manager as her executive assistant. Paperwork and such. Trust me when I say that the military doesn't have the corner on the paperwork market. On any given day, I have to deal with any number of hundreds of forms."

"Do you like it?"

"I really do." Lea wondered why she found him so easy to talk to. "I've been able to meet some of her clients as well, and they're. . .interesting people."

He chuckled at her hesitation. "Which case manager do you work for?"

"Marissa Chandry." Her smile faded when he stilled suddenly. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing." Lorne shook his head. "It's just a small world."

"Oh?"

"Marissa Chandry is my cousin's wife."

"Really?" Lea's eyebrows met her hairline. "Danny's your cousin?"

"Yep."

"Wow." She eyed him. "How long has it been since you spoke with them?"

"A while." He shrugged. "We talked a few months ago, right after I got back to the States. After that, I was stuck in briefings and the various activities that a posting such as mine requires."

Lea allowed her grin to cover her face. Marissa's pregnancy news had only been discovered two weeks ago. "They're good people."

"And I'm hoping to discover what that grin on your face means." He finished his coffee. "I'm having lunch with them this afternoon."

"Good." She sobered. "Seriously, though. Your cousins are amazing. I love working with Marissa, and I'm not saying that to get points with you. She's a wonderful boss and loves what she does. And she doesn't mind if I bring Jessie to the office."

His face went blank. "Sorry. Jessie?"

"My daughter."

"Ah."

"Your other cousin, Deanna, is pretty amazing, too."

Lorne's face dissolved into a grin again. "I won't argue with that." He gave her a wry look. "I'm still not sure about the guy she married."

"You like Cam, and you know it." Lea nudged his foot with her toe.

"I have to admit to having a certain fondness for the guy who helped her play piano again."

"That's one of the reasons she amazes me." Lea shook her head. "I mean, an accident like that would have ended most people's lives, not just their musical careers. And she pulled herself together and learned to play piano and guitar again."

"I haven't heard her play since their wedding."

She smiled at the wistfulness in his tone. "It's worth it. Deanna's an encouragement. She helped me keep going." She paused as she heard a small groan come across the baby monitor she kept beside her. "Well, that's my call to duty."

Lorne stood with her and set the cup on the tray she picked up. "Thank you for coffee."

"Anytime. I'm out here every day." She watched him briefly as he headed to his home. The man was easy to talk to. She'd found herself on the edge of sharing things she typically kept to herself. Something about him tugged the secrets out of her and put her at ease.

Jessie stood in the doorway, rubbing her eyes with a fist. "I'm hungry."

Lea laughed aloud at the demand. It was time to return to the real world.

oOo

Lorne settled at a table in the small restaurant Danny had chosen. He thought about his morning coffee with Lea and relaxed, knowing that his cousins were in good company. He looked forward to seeing that friendship in more than just words and wondered if his heart could take it. Lea was a very pretty lady, and he already felt the stirrings of attraction for her. Part of him wanted to run, to rent a different apartment so that he wouldn't hurt her. After all, he had a dangerous job, perhaps even more dangerous than her husband's. Even as friends, the thought that he could put her through that loss again bugged him.

Danny appeared with a huge grin on his tanned face. The hours he spend outdoors showed in the squint lines around his eyes and the tan lines on his arms. "Evan."

"Danny." Lorne shared a back-slapping hug with his cousin. "How are things?"

"Good." Danny settled into the chair and ordered an iced tea when the waitress appeared. "Keeping busy with the new business. You?"

"Ah, found out that you know my landlady."

"Really?"

"Lea Davies."

Danny's face stilled. "She's your landlady?"

"Yep."

"She's a great person."

Lorne decided he didn't want to discuss Lea right at that moment. "What about you? And Deanna?"

"We're good. I just got a call from Marissa. A meeting with a client went long, so she'll be here as soon as she can get away." Danny sobered. "How go things with the IOA?"

"You know the IOA." Lorne shrugged. Out of his entire family, only Danny and Deanna knew what he truly did for a living. It was a hard-won security clearance, though. Deanna and her then-boyfriend, Cameron Mitchell, had been kidnapped by a Lucian Alliance bounty hunter. "I've to two months to decide if I really want to deal with meetings and be this close to the IOA."

"So, they're sending you back?"

"To the city? Yes." He glanced around. "Overseas? Who knows." Over the years, the euphemisms for his work became second-nature. "Overseas" meant Pegasus. "TDY" meant off-world mission.

Marissa chose that moment to appear, and Lorne dropped the subject of work. She looked great, and the reason soon became obvious when she handed him a baby rattle. He took a moment to blink at it before the full import hit him. After another round of hugs, they settled into the booth and looked at the menus. They spent the next two hours talking about life in general.

Later that afternoon, as he carried a prepared canvas, his easel, and his paints to his truck, Lorne grinned as he thought about the new baby. Danny would make a wonderful father.

"Hi." The tiny voice stopped him in his tracks. He turned and saw a beautiful little girl with blond ringlets standing next to the fence.

Lorne set his paints in his truck and moved to crouch in front of the little girl. "Hi, there."

"Mommy says not to talk to strangers."

He chuckled. "Your mom's a very smart lady."

Lea appeared as if on cue. "Jessie?" She smiled as the little girl ran to her. "It's okay. Come here."

Lorne stayed in place as Lea led her daughter back to the fence. He waited, knowing that she would handle the situation gracefully.

She also hunkered down on the little girl's level. "It's okay if you talk to Mr. Lorne. He lives in the garage apartment."

"Oh." The girl eyed him dubiously. "Do you like the garage?"

He chuckled again. "I like it very much."

"Oh," she said again. Then, pulling herself up to her full height, she smiled. "I'm Jessica Michelle Davies."

"Evan Lorne." He glanced at Lea. "You can call me Mr. Evan."

"Okay. You can call me Jessie." The little girl waved and scampered off to play on the swing set near the arbor.

Lorne stood and leaned on the fence, smiling as he watched her. "You've got a beautiful daughter."

"I know."

He eyed her, hoping his next words didn't destroy their tentative friendship. "She looks just like her dad, except for the hair."

Lea smiled, her face lighting up even though her eyes turned blue. "It's like having a piece of Mark with me."

The two fell silent for a time, content to watch the little girl as she played. Lorne wondered if the easy companionship he felt for Lea would fade in time. He hoped not. He truly liked her and wanted to be helpful to her if possible. Finally, he pushed himself to his full height. "I need to get going."

Lea grinned. "I noticed you're headed out to paint."

"It's what I took two months to do." He stopped as a thought occurred to him. "Speaking of which, I was wondering if you'd allow me to paint that arbor you've got."

Her gaze went to the bench shrouded in jasmine and morning glories. "You're welcome to paint the yard anytime you need to. I just want to see the end result."

"Deal." Lorne grinned again and set out for the evening. While he still had questions about Atlantis and his life there, he knew that he'd found a safe haven on Earth. He took comfort in that.

~TBC


	4. Intruder

**Author's Note:** Contains spoilers for "Sunday," "Lifeline," "Conversion," "The Game," "The Ark," and "The Kindred, Parts 1 & 2."

Intruder

Within a week, Lorne settled into a routine. He rose early every morning, going for his daily run before sharing coffee with Lea. After that, he often puttered around his apartment, fixing breakfast, searching through old pictures, and sorting his memories of Atlantis. He tried to push them into a small box labeled "Work," but he found himself unable to compartmentalize. He'd seen so many amazing things and lost good friends. Carson Beckett and Elizabeth Weir both died while saving other's lives. Countless lives had been wiped out between the space battles with the Wraith and the attacks on the Replicator home world. He'd nearly become the new military commander of Atlantis when Sheppard transformed into a bug. And he bore the inevitable guilt of allowing Michael to capture Teyla.

Not all the memories were bad, however. He often smiled as he remembered playing that Lantean "game" with Zelenka. They had been in so much trouble after that, but the camaraderie built lasted until they arrived home. Seeing Sheppard fly the space shuttle made him jealous even though Teyla could have lost her life. Watching Teyla with her young son also put a smile on his face. The breathtaking views of Atlantis could never be outdone. Lorne had so many good memories, and he wanted to share them.

Unfortunately, he couldn't share with Lea. Most mornings, he chatted about surface stuff while wishing he could reveal the really deep things. That alone surprised him. He'd only known Lea for a week, and he already wanted to open up to her. She had a wonderful smile, and her eyes reflected her moods. He'd learned that her eyes changed color, becoming more green when she was happy and blue when she was sad or angry. He'd only seen her angry once, and it was an adorable sight. She never flew into a rage, but instead lost the ability to put a coherent sentence together. Lorne didn't ask about the cause, but he laughed inwardly as she sputtered to the person on the other end of the phone call.

By now, he also knew her schedule. She worked from ten to six, Monday through Friday. Her job kept her busy, and she often arrived home tired. He watched her work in the yard most evenings and saw how she drew comfort from the paradise she'd created. No wonder she got along with Deanna.

Late Wednesday evening, Lorne parked his truck and let out a deep sigh. He'd eaten way too much food, and he now regretted it. Cam and Deanna had invited him over for a cookout, and he had enjoyed relaxing in an environment where he wasn't required to use euphemisms and dance around the issues. After dinner, Cam volunteered to do the dishes, and Deanna looped her arm through Lorne's for a walk. The cousins talked about his return from Atlantis and the questions roaming his mind. While it didn't answer any of the unknowns, it helped him cope with his sudden return. Earth affected him with its deceptive calm and widespread ignorance of life on other planets. He never truly questioned his position on Atlantis or his service to Earth, just the city's fate. Would they ever return to Pegasus?

Lorne walked quietly to the front of his apartment, thinking about finding a Bowflex or some sort of in-home gym. If Deanna insisted on cooking for him on a regular basis, he'd need a way to stay in shape. As he inserted the key into his front door, a shadow caught the corner of his eye. Years in Pegasus had honed his "duck for cover" reflex, and he dropped into a crouched position. His eyes roamed the area, squinting against the dark evening. Why did the clouds have to cover the moon tonight, of all nights?

Nothing else stirred in the evening. Lorne stayed low, trusting the instinct that had sharpened every sense he possessed. Life in Pegasus had taught him to never ignore instinct. He moved slowly, his tennis shoes making very little sound as he approached his truck. The gun he usually kept with him rested in the console of his truck. He narrowed his eyes, feeling the comforting coldness of the grip as he spotted the intruder.

Someone was trying to break into Lea's home. Lorne blinked at the icy rage that bloomed in his gut. He moved silently and quickly, staying low as he ran toward the back of Lea's house. With his shoulder and back to the wall, he crept toward the corner and peeked around.

The thief couldn't be more than sixteen years old. Lorne frowned as he thought over the last few days. He had noticed the increased presence of teens in the neighborhood but didn't think anything of it. They clustered around one house in particular, and he assumed one member of the group lived there. Now, he needed to check that house as well. Rather than startling a teenaged thief who might or might not be armed, he decided to spook the kid another way. He found a rock large enough to agitate the dog next door and threw it over the fence. The dog startled and began barking. Lorne watched as the thief jumped and ran away from the house, sticking to the shadows as he ran.

Lorne let out a deep sigh as he did a quick perimeter sweep of the house. He kept his sidearm concealed beneath his untucked button-down shirt, but it was always loaded. Always ready. Nothing else triggered his reflexes, and he returned to his apartment. Lea returned home from church shortly after he ran off the thief, leaving him thankful that he'd gone on enough missions with Ronon to have picked up a few of the Satedan's stealth tactics. He resolved to keep watch over his landlady and her daughter and knew that his growing feelings had as much to do with that decision as his natural protective tendencies. Lea would not be harmed if he could prevent it.

oOo

Samuel walked onto the porch of Lea's home late the following evening. He hoped he'd arrived after dinner and didn't plan to stay long. Lea was often tired after a long day at work. But he needed to see that she was okay. The increased gang activity in the area concerned him. He'd heard about it through official channels, but he wouldn't tell Lea that. She just needed to see him as a good friend of her late husband's who stopped by occasionally.

Major Lorne seemed at ease tonight. Samuel glanced at the apartment behind the main house, noting the light glowing from the windows. Even though the sun hadn't set, the apartment's eastern position made it a dark place. Samuel knew. He'd helped Lea prepare it for Lorne's return. He sincerely hoped the major enjoyed his leave and realized what a treasure he had in Lea. The woman would make friends with anyone, and she knew the value of silence. Samuel had been to Atlantis. He understood the stresses of life in Pegasus. Lorne needed someone close to him who retained a level of innocence.

Lea answered the door with a smile. "Samuel. Come in."

Before he could speak, a squeal came from the other room as Jessie threw herself into his arms. "Uncle Sammy!"

"Hey, there." He picked her up and carried her to the couch. "Aren't you supposed to be in bed?"

"No." Jessie shook her head, her natural ringlets bouncing against her face as she did so. "Mommy said I could stay up late since we got home late."

Lea sighed. "Work went long, today. It's the first of the month tomorrow, and Marissa needed help getting a few things ready for her meetings."

Samuel read the underlying message. Marissa Chandry's pregnancy news had also reached him, and he nodded. "It's okay. Gives me a chance to say goodnight to my favorite niece." He had been honest about his family situation, sharing that he'd been an only child. He wasn't married either, his job keeping him from making the commitment. As a result, Jessie and Lea became his family after Mark's death.

"Mr. Evan's going to teach me how to paint," Jessie announced suddenly.

Samuel's eyebrows rose slightly. "Really?"

"Yep." The four year old nodded.

Lea smiled at her daughter. "Major Lorne is an artist. I've caught glimpses of his work when he returns from his painting expeditions. From what I can tell, he's quite good."

Samuel nodded, not betraying that he'd already known this. Some of Lorne's work had been donated to the SGC where it could be displayed for those who knew about the Program. He'd marveled that someone with the major's experiences and training could still produce such beautiful work. It seemed the struggles with the Wraith and various other bad guys hadn't affected him.

Lea stood in the center of the room. "It's time to say goodnight, Jessie."

The little girl hugged him tightly. " 'Night, Uncle Sammy."

"Goodnight, Jessie." He kissed her cheek and sent her off with her mother. As Lea tucked her daughter into bed, Samuel looked around the living room. The house was neat, as usual, with clutter piling around Lea's favorite chair. The piano gathered dust on one wall while a bookshelf showed signs of recent activity. Lea had always been an avid reader, and she often discussed the books she read with anyone who would listen.

When she returned, she dropped into her chair. "What a day."

"How's Marissa?"

"Tired. Sick a lot of the time." Lea smiled. "But she never complains. I think Danny has a lot to do with that. It's so fun to watch them together."

Samuel heard the wistfulness in her tone. "Missing Mark?" he asked gently.

She considered his words before answering. "Some. I mean, there's always things I miss about Mark. But it's not heartbreaking anymore."

He barely kept the smile off his face as he asked, "Anyone special have something to do with that?"

She blushed. "I'm not dating, if that's what you're asking."

Samuel decided to tease her. "I wasn't asking if you were dating, or even seeing anyone. I just wondered if your tenant has anything to do with the new change I'm seeing."

"Evan?" She shook her head. "No, he's got nothing to do with it." She paused. "Not much, anyway."

He laughed and allowed her to change the subject. As she made coffee for him and tea for herself, they talked about the little things in life. She never said anything explicitly, but Samuel read the loneliness in her tone. The house was in good shape, but signs of a man's absence could be seen. The yard wasn't as neat as it could be in spite of the time Lea devoted to the landscaping. The cooler needed a new pad to be effective. And the outside of the house could use a fresh coat of paint. All these chores required a man's touch. Samuel had often considered volunteering, but his current job required that he remain under the radar. Just for a bit longer.

He also read Lea well enough to know that she was drawn to Major Lorne. Samuel smiled as he left the house. He liked Lorne well enough, and the major had a positive effect on Jessie. That little girl had wrapped Samuel around her finger within minutes of meeting him, and he tended to be a slight bit overprotective of her. If Lorne had spent any time with her, he was probably as captivated as Samuel had been.

Returning to his car, Samuel sipped the coffee Lea made. She used the good stuff, and he liked the smooth flavor complimented by the sugar he'd added. He'd need it tonight. With the increased gang presence, he planned to sit watch throughout the night. Lea wouldn't even know he was there, and he'd be able to watch over a woman who had become the sister he'd never had.

oOo

Lea closed the door behind Samuel and shook her head. The man knew something, and he hadn't told her. She had tried to pry it out of him, but gentle questions didn't do the trick. Whatever had set him on edge had to be related to work. That alone kept her from pushing the issue. When it came to military and police work, she'd learned a long time ago to let the issues lie. Nothing good came of pushing until you had an answer.

She settled on the piano bench and ran her hands over the keys. She hadn't played in so long. When she'd told Evan that Deanna inspired her, she'd not been lying. But she had never regained the desire to make music. That desire had died with Mark, and nothing had revived it. Until now.

Lea played a few chords and frowned. The piano needed to be tuned. She pulled the cover over the keys and made a mental note to call the piano guy in the morning. She needed to think, and she thought best to the sounds of a piano.

She knew why she wanted to play again. Mark had always said that music was her art, her way of expressing herself. When he died, she lost all desire to share her art with anyone. The words that once flowed onto the page died along with the music they had shared. Yet, with the arrival of her tenant, she discovered the desire to share that artwork again. Maybe it wasn't because of Evan's gentle presence. Maybe she merely wanted to show him that art wasn't simply paint on a canvas.

"Liar," she muttered as she opened the piano again. Her fingers roved over the keys, creating melodies in spite of the poor tuning. She knew her sudden desire to play had nothing to do with a competitive attitude. Evan stirred things in her that she'd thought long dead. He noticed her. In the life that she'd built after Mark's death, that one act made all the difference.

oOo

Lorne stopped as he dropped the bag of trash into the dumpster. Piano music came from Lea's home, and he blinked. She was a musician? In their morning talks, she'd never mentioned it. He made a mental note to say something the next day and headed back to his apartment.

As he walked, he caught motion out of the corner of his eye. His mind flashed to the previous night's attempted break-in, and he turned without seeming tense. A car sat just within sight of Lea's home, a shadowed figure inside apparently readjusting a drink as he kept watch. Lorne's eyes narrowed, and he shook his head. He was too tense. He had foiled a teenaged plot and saw more to it. That was all. His instincts merely kicked in at the slight movement that broke the ordinary evening.

As he entered his home, he realized that the sedan didn't belong to a neighbor. The dark sedan with tinted windows was probably government issue. He closed his door and let out a deep breath. Someone in his neighborhood, possibly Lea, was under surveillance. That could mean many different things, but he refused to jump to any conclusions. Instead, he resolved to keep watch over Lea and figure things out as they came.

~TBC


	5. Sparks

**Author's Note:** Contains spoilers for "Doppelganger." Also, I forgot to add this to my Author's Note in Chapter 1. I couldn't have written this story without the hours that TychoV and Ani-maniac494 spent over YIM, chatting about the various aspects of the story. Thanks, guys! ~lg

Sparks

Sunday morning came before Lorne had the chance to talk with Lea. Oh, they shared coffee, but she worked extra hours that week to make up for a day that Marissa missed due to pregnancy-related doctors' visits. He'd learned that Lea did more than mere paperwork. She kept the office organized and operating at peak efficiency. His mind often went to the work they'd done in Pegasus, and he wondered how much more they would have accomplished if they'd had someone with Lea's skills on Atlantis. Simply organizing Woolsey, Sheppard, and himself would have been a minor miracle.

Early Sunday, Lorne stood in his living room and considered his home. He'd hung the unframed painting of the Golden Gate bridge on one large wall. He had painted it while still on Atlantis, standing unseen on one of the cloaked city's balconies. It had taken him a week of evenings to finish, but the massive painting had soothed the inevitable cabin fever that set in when he'd been told to stay put. Now, it begged to be framed, and he made a note to get the supplies sooner rather than later.

Various other paintings, all of them smaller, leaned against the walls. He'd been away from Earth for so long that his artist's eye saw the beauty in minor details. The sun glinting off of a skyscraper in Denver, for example, became the focal point of one painting. Today, however, he had a different goal in mind. He hadn't worked with watercolors in a long time, primarily because he'd taken oils to Atlantis, and he wanted to try his hand at using them again. And he had the perfect location. Lea had given him permission to paint her arbor, and he intended to take her up on the offer.

After gathering his supplies, he carried his easel outside and studied the back of the house. As the day progressed, the light would change. Rather than trying to remember it all, he used his digital camera to take a high-quality photo of the arbor. The morning sun deepened the green of the jasmine leaves, highlighting the white and pink flowers. The morning glories intertwined, their lighter shade of green contrasting nicely with the jasmine and their traditional blue star pattern giving the arbor a slightly patriotic look. A white bench sat in the center, and the plants formed an arch over it. Two small tables, both wrought iron with marble tops, anchored the scene at either side.

After taking a digital photo, Lorne stepped closer and studied the flowers themselves. The jasmine's honey-like scent was intoxicating and made him think of Lea. He had no idea what perfume she wore, but he now associated the scent of jasmine with her presence. He noticed the difference in the two types of jasmine and smiled. The star-shaped pink jasmine wouldn't be difficult to paint. The other type with petals that formed blunt tubes in a star-shaped pattern would challenge him. He looked forward to the challenge.

As he absorbed the setting, he looked around. His eyes narrowed. Lea watered the grass every other day, and she spent hours out here with her daughter. Now, he frowned. Why had he never noticed the scraggly edges of the yard before? While Lea kept the area neat, she clearly hadn't mowed the grass in a while. His gaze roamed the yard, seeing signs of neglect in the corners of the bench and around the legs of Jessie's swing set. Lorne set up his easel and then moved to study the swing set. Someone, presumably Lea, had anchored the legs to the ground using tent pegs. While those would work, they wouldn't hold up to an active child swinging with all her might. Now that he thought about it, he remembered seeing the set jump when Jessie used it last.

Lorne returned to his home for his paints, pausing long enough to make a few notes on the tablet in the kitchen. He needed some supplies from the hardware store, and Cam and Deanna had lawn equipment he could use. It was time someone took care of Lea. Decision made, he returned to the yard and set about capturing the arbor on canvas.

oOo

Lea pulled her car into her driveway and let out a deep breath. Church had been fun, and then she'd taken Jessie to McDonald's for lunch. The little girl had squealed and run to play with other children. Lea hated that her daughter was so isolated, but she could do nothing about it. Between work and the household chores, she had no time to form some sort of play-group for Jessie. Rather than dwelling on her failings and lack of time, Lea herded her daughter inside and toward bed. Jessie still took naps every afternoon, and Lea often needed the time to recover from the morning.

Today was no exception, she realized as she stared out her kitchen window. She needed to do so many things, and she had no time. It was a recurring theme in her life. Now that Major Lorne had returned, she began to consider quitting her job. But she refused to leave Marissa in such a bad place. The pregnancy had hit her a little harder in the last month, and Lea wanted to make sure she'd be there no matter how much it irritated her to ignore the minor chores.

Lorne still stood in the back yard, leaning toward his easel as he brushed some small detail onto the canvas. His face had already turned slightly red, and he smiled at the result. Lea watched him, seeing more in that few moments that she'd seen since he returned home. She had often noticed how he pulled away from talking about work and the last four years, and she refused to ask questions. He was involved in classified military operations, and she didn't want to put him in a tight spot with his superiors. But, as much as she'd seen his friendly side, she'd never seen this version of him. The idea that a man could be so wrapped in the nuances of color and beauty intrigued her. Rather than thinking about it, she moved quickly through her kitchen. If she knew the major at all-and she admitted that she didn't-he hadn't stopped painting since early that morning.

Ten minutes later, she gently closed the back door of her house, hoping not to startle him. She let her smile appear. "You're going to be sunburned tomorrow."

He looked up, his eyes sparkling when he saw her. "Oh, hey." His hand lowered the brush he'd been using. "Yeah, but it'll be worth it."

She grinned. "I'm sure it will." She nodded toward the bench. "Had lunch yet?"

He actually had to stop and think about the answer, earning him a laugh. After a moment, he glanced at his watch and shook his head. "I get absorbed sometimes."

"I'm noticing."

"You have a nice laugh, by the way."

Lea flushed as she set the plate of sandwiches on one table before pouring the iced tea into matching plastic cups. As she offered one to Lorne, she shrugged, "I'm sorry about the plastic ware. It happens when you've got kids."

"Don't worry about it." He accepted the cup. "I've got two nephews. My sister hides her nice dishes."

"I'm sure she does." Lea shook her head. "You know, I thought I'd be okay with a little girl. Then, Jessie came along, and she takes after her father in so many ways. His rambunctious spirit is one of them."

He nodded. "So, I wanted to ask you about something." At her questioning look, he continued, "I heard a piano the other night."

She felt her cheeks heat. "A badly tuned piano?" When he nodded again, she cringed. "Sorry about that. I needed to think, and I didn't realize the piano was so far out of tune."

"You play?"

"It's one of the reasons your cousin inspires me." She shrugged. "We're kindred spirits, I guess you'd say."

"Would you like to talk about it?"

"Sorry?"

"You said you needed to think. Care to talk about it?"

Lea considered his face as she thought. Did she really want to reveal that much of herself to him? She hadn't even told Marissa everything, and she called her boss her closest friend. Lea realized that Lorne would accept her answer no matter what she chose, but she wanted him to be open with her. That was new. Rather than dwelling on the thought, she decided to share. "I was thinking about Mark."

Lorne didn't answer but munched on a sandwich as he waited for her to continue.

"I mean, after he died, I withdrew from everything." She smiled sadly. "I think the only reason I kept going was because Jessie needed me. Otherwise, I'm not sure I would have survived it. Those first few weeks were awful. I couldn't sleep, and I rested only to make sure that Jessie slept. She kept asking for her dad, and I didn't know what to tell her. She was only a year old.

"Then, Samuel stepped in. He was a friend of Mark's from work. And he saw what I was doing to myself. About that time, Marissa was setting up her case management agency, and I needed an outlet for my grief. So I went to work. I love my job, and part of it is because it was a lifeline.

"Music ended for me." She stared at the sandwich on her plate. "Mark was a drummer, and it was something we shared together. I learned to play piano as a teenager, and I liked it. But it wasn't until I met Mark that I really became serious about it." She chuckled, this time in sincere amusement. "We were obsessed. Everything had a musical application to us. We loved it. And, after he died, it was something that caused so much pain that I didn't want to endure it."

"And now?"

"Now?" She shrugged. "Now, I'm okay with it. I like music, and I listen to it. But I haven't gotten into playing again. The other night, I needed to think. Samuel visited, and he called me on a few things." She stopped talking as she realized she'd nearly told him everything: her struggles with keeping up with Jessie, her desire for friendships outside of work, and her attraction for him. Her face heated, and he grinned. Lea shook her head, trying to clear her mind of everything save the day. He was only her tenant, after all, and she didn't need to notice how the sunlight made his blue eyes almost glow. Rather than dwelling on that fact, she pointed to the canvas. "Mind if I take a look?"

"Not at all." Lorne rose and walked with her to the canvas. "I'm obviously not done, but I like the way it's coming out. I haven't used watercolors in forever, and they're different."

Lea let her eyes rove over the painting. He'd sketched a few things in pencil on the canvas and worked from the edges toward the center. Right now, he had managed to shroud the edges of the canvas in dark green, and she saw how he added the lighter green of the morning glories. "It's really good." She meant the compliment. Her knowledge of art was limited, but she recognized quality work.

He shrugged with one shoulder. "Yeah, I like the way it's coming out." He licked his lips slightly and eyed her out of the corner of his eye. "I'm thinking about adding you and Jessie to the center, sitting on the bench reading. You'd keep the painting," he added quickly. "It's just how I see it in my mind."

Lea stared at him, surprised at the emotions flowing across his face. Hesitation, embarrassment, and sheepishness warred with his naturally cool demeanor. When he glanced at her, however, it all dissolved into a surprised look of pure attraction.

Lea struggled to breathe. She'd often noticed how attractive the major really was, but she had never been knocked breathless by one expression. Now, with his eyes roving over her face in stunned appreciation, she knew she had to do something. If she didn't, she'd wind up in love with a man she could never have. She refused to analyze her reasons for believing that.

Lorne stared at her, amazed. He hadn't planned this. When he decided to paint the arbor, he set out to capture a landscape. Instead, it morphed into this really transparent idea of his relationship with Lea and her daughter. For a moment, he considered finding another place to live but realized that he couldn't do that to her. She clearly needed a man around the house.

When she looked at him like this, however, all thoughts of staying "just friends" fled from his mind. She was so beautiful. Her eyes had turned almost completely green, and the sun brightened her hair to spun gold. His gaze dropped to her lips, and Lorne suddenly realized what he'd been thinking. Rather than acting on the impulse to kiss her, he turned back to the canvas. "What do you think?"

Lea took a moment to gather her thoughts, rescuing him from the need to speak. He also needed a few minutes. Possibly a lifetime. The last time a woman had affected him so deeply, he'd put off acting on the attraction until it was too late. Kate Heightmeyer had accepted his invitation to dinner, and they'd dated a few times. Then, she died in a violent nightmare shortly after he'd been caught sleepwalking with a gun. Lorne had never allowed anyone to see the grief he endured at Kate's death, but it gave him enough of an idea of Lea's situation to wonder if he'd survive losing a woman he'd committed his entire life to loving.

When had this turned into a mental conversation about love? He blinked the thoughts away as Lea smiled. "It's a good idea." She nodded emphatically. "I like it. Thank you, Major."

"Evan." He chanced another look at her and couldn't resist staring for a tiny moment. She was breathtaking. "My name is Evan."

She smiled. "Duly noted."

He picked up his paintbrush, intent on finishing the painting today now that he had Lea's awestruck expression in mind. While it had been focused on him, he intended to turn the expression toward her daughter as they read a book on the bench. Seeing that he wanted to be alone, Lea gracefully excused herself and disappeared after a brief warning to get some sunscreen. Lorne shook his head. A sunburn was the least of his concerns now.

Across the street, a man watched the pair and smiled. So, the major had finally discovered the woman right under his nose. This was very good.

~TBC


	6. Noticed

**Author's Note:** Contains very mild spoilers for "The Game."

Noticed

Lea arrived home the next evening, exhausted but ready to work. She'd spent the day in her office chair, typing meeting minutes and filing the overabundance of emails that Marissa received. With almost thirty clients, the daunting task of keeping that many files organized sometimes overwhelmed her. After sitting for the entire day, she wanted to move around a bit. Cooking seemed like a good way to loosen up stiff joints, and she wanted lasagna. So, after picking up Jessie from the daycare, she stopped in at the grocery store and bought the necessary supplies.

As soon as she released her daughter from the car, Jessie bolted for the back yard. Lea smiled and latched the gate behind her. Then, she stepped inside and set about organizing the lasagna ingredients. The noodles needed to be cooked, and she drew a big pot of water to boil. While that heated, she grated the fresh parmesan cheese and mixed an egg with the cottage cheese. The canned garlic-onion spaghetti sauce completed the lasagna, and freshly baked French bread from a local bakery accented it perfectly. Too much for just the two of them, Lea planned to freeze the leftovers. She'd likely need to carry Jessie directly to the bathtub after dinner, but none of that mattered. She wanted lasagna.

"Mommy, Mommy!" Jessie burst through the back door. "Someone fixed my swings!"

Lea frowned. "What?"

"Someone fixed my swings," Jessie said again, this time more emphatically. "Come see."

Deciding that she could slip outside for a few minutes, Lea allowed her daughter to pull her out the back door. Jessie ran across the yard, pointing at the legs of the swing set as she chattered about being able to "swing high." Lea began to walk toward her but frowned. One of those minor household chores that needed to be done was cutting the grass. It had grown in the last couple of weeks, and she hadn't found time to cut it. Someone had, however. She stared at the freshly cut grass and saw that the edges had even been trimmed. Stunned, she moved around the house to the front yard, seeing that her entire property now had a clean, neat appearance. Even that irritatingly low branch the pecan tree had sprouted earlier in the year was gone.

Tears filled her eyes as she walked back to the back yard. Jessie stood impatiently at the swing set, pointing at the rebar pieces in the ground. The same person who cut her grass had anchored Jessie's swing set so solidly that the little girl couldn't pull it out of the ground.

"Mommy, watch!" Jessie climbed onto a swing and began to pump her legs. Before long, the chains on the swing bounced, but the set stayed firmly on the ground.

Lea looked around, trying to contain her emotions. This had to be the work of Cam or Deanna. No one else cared enough to notice these little things. Then, she caught sight of a trimmer peeking over the back of Evan's truck bed. He had cut her grass and fixed her daughter's swing set? Rather than thinking about the ramifications, she marched out of her yard and knocked on his door. She swiped at the tears, not wanting to concern him by appearing distraught.

Evan answered the door wearing a button-down shirt open over a white t-shirt. "Lea?" His confusion vanished, and concern replaced it when he saw her tears. "What happened?"

"Nothing." She pulled herself together. "Just wanted to say thanks."

His face stilled, and a tiny smile appeared. "Don't mention it."

"You don't understand." She shook her head, her voice finally losing the emotional wobble. "It seems simple, but it's not. No one has really noticed the little things before."

He touched her arm, his smile blooming into a full-fledged grin. "You're welcome."

Lea thought for a moment. "Have you had dinner yet?" She laughed slightly and motioned over her shoulder with her thumb. "Because I'm making lasagna, and there's plenty. It's the least I can do to say thank you."

Evan considered her face for a moment and nodded. "Lasagna? Haven't had that in a long time."

She grinned at the intrigued tone of his voice. "Give me an hour, and it'll be ready."

"Do I need to bring anything?"

She glanced at Jessie happily swinging. "Just some pencils and paper. I have a feeling she's going to want an art lesson since you promised them to her."

"I'll be there."

She nodded and turned to go, giving him an awkward wave. Once inside, however, she dropped onto the piano bench. Evan Lorne was coming to dinner. Most people considered that a date. Not this time, though. She'd have Jessie to interrupt those wonderful trance-like moments with little off-the-wall comments.

What was she thinking? She couldn't have a man like Evan around without something developing. Even when she'd first met Mark, there wasn't this indefinable spark between them. Mark had gently wooed her and won her heart, but it had taken a long time. With Evan, he simply smiled, and her heart rate climbed to dangerous levels. His obvious love for art and the time he devoted to Jessie only added to that attraction.

Lea rose and went into the kitchen, dropping the lasagna noodles into the now-boiling water. Then, she chopped onion and bell pepper, sautéing them in the slightest bit of olive oil. Once those were ready, she crumbled the ground beef into the onion and bell pepper, stirring as the meat cooked. She then added the spaghetti sauce to the prepared meat and spread a thin layer of the sauce on the bottom of the pan. Finally, she layered the noodles, sauce, cottage cheese, mozzarella cheese, and parmesan cheese in the pan, ending with extra cheese on the top. That concoction went into the oven for thirty minutes.

With the prep work done, Lea quickly washed the dishes and picked up the house. She kept up the main household chores, but toys tended to get pushed out of the center of the room. She closed her bedroom door, embarrassed at the mess, and did a quick cleaning in the bathroom. As she wiped down the vanity, she eyed herself in the mirror. That morning, she had twisted her hair into a bun at the back of her head. Now, she considered letting it loose. After all, Evan had stared at it the day before when he'd been painting. A moment later, Lea shook her head. While she might be attracted to him, nothing existed between them besides friendship. She wasn't about to start dressing for him.

Evan appeared right on time, looking about the same as he had when she'd invited him to dinner. This time, however, Jessie dragged him in the door. "Mommy, look who came over!"

Lea laughed at her daughter's enthusiasm. "Jessie, let the man walk on his own."

Evan chuckled and patted Jessie's head. "It's okay." He sobered and held up a cake. "I know you said to just come over, but I wanted to bring something. So, I figured dessert would work."

Lea grinned. "Red velvet. Haven't had that in a while."

"Oh, good." He let her take the cake from his hands and picked up Jessie. "I had this moment in the store where I wondered if I'd made a huge mistake."

Jessie eyed the cake and wrinkled her nose. "What's red velvet?"

"A special kind of cake," Evan answered. "I think you'll like it."

"Oh."

Lea carried the cake into her kitchen and set it in a prominent place on the table. She'd planned coffee and biscotti for dessert, but the cake sounded better. She could sneak a piece of biscotti, her favorite dessert, once Evan left and Jessie went to bed. By the time she returned to the living room, Evan sat on the couch with Jessie, showing the little girl the sketch pad and pencils he'd bought. He told her how important drawing was to him and how he hoped she'd like it as well. Jessie nodded sagely, her eyes sparkling in spite of her sober face. Then, after a moment, Evan sent her off to her room to draw a special picture for her mom.

Lea smiled again as he rose from the couch. "Thank you."

"No problem." He joined her in the kitchen. "Kind of hard to say no to homemade lasagna."

"I don't normally make it. But it sounded so good today that I went to the store."

An awkward silence fell while they stared at each other. Lea thought about the previous day and couldn't help wondering how Jessie would react to having Evan around all the time. Her daughter certainly liked him, and that had to be a prerequisite to any relationship she developed.

The timer dinged, and Lea turned to pull the lasagna from the oven. She and Evan fell into easy conversation as they set the table. Jessie appeared when called, solemnly telling her mom that it might be the next day before she got her special picture. Lea barely contained her laughter at the seriousness in the four-year-old. As usual, Jessie reached for the adults' hands before they ate, saying a quick prayer that Lea had taught her. Lea usually asked the blessing on the food quietly as Jessie prayed, but she couldn't focus tonight. Evan's warm hand enveloped hers, and she struggled to get herself together before the short prayer ended.

By the end of dinner, the friendly banter returned. Jessie helped with that quite a lot, inserting little comments about her day and her friends at the daycare center. Evan took everything she said seriously, but Lea saw the sparkle in his eyes. He truly liked her daughter. That only made him more appealing in her eyes. After dinner, he insisted on clearing the table while she prepared coffee. Jessie sensed the difference in the evening and escaped to the back yard, taking advantage of her mother's distraction to stay up late. Evan pointed it out, and Lea only nodded. Once coffee finished brewing, they served the cake and carried dessert to the bench in the back yard.

That night, Lea fell asleep thinking about the day. She hadn't thought about moving on from Mark in so long, and the idea no longer tore her heart from her chest. An evening with Evan showed her how grounded he really was, and she wanted that in her life again. Until he appeared, she hadn't realized how badly she had isolated herself. Her life revolved around her daughter, and she sincerely missed adult companionship. But her thoughts concerning Evan didn't stop there. The little smiles he sent her way, the way his hand lingered over hers when they'd prayed over the food, the way he teased her until she blushed all pointed toward something deeper, a desire more profound than simple companionship. For the first time in four years, Lea admitted that she was lonely, and friendship was no longer enough.

oOo

The next day, Lorne took Cam's lawn equipment back to its rightful owner. Cam had returned from an off-world mission the night before, and Evan grinned at him when he realized his wife had loaned his lawn mower to her cousin. The colonel never complained and invited Lorne inside.

"So," Cam began as he pulled two sodas from the fridge, "how's Lea?"

Lorne shook his head. Cameron Mitchell knew how to read his family well. Rather than denying anything, Lorne met the question head-on. "She's good. We had dinner last night."

"Really?"

"Not a date," Lorne rushed to explain. "She wanted to say thanks for doing the lawn."

"And how'd that go?"

"Good." Lorne chuckled. "She's got quite an intelligent little girl."

"Yeah, that Jessie is a handful at times." Cam shook his head. "You should hear the questions she asks Marissa when Lea has to take her to work. Not all of it is simple 'What's this?' questions. Some of them are pretty deep. Marissa loves her, though, and takes her places like the zoo and the park."

Lorne narrowed his eyes and considered asking Cam about Lea's husband. After all, he hadn't yet discovered how the man had died. Then, he thought about Kate and realized that he wouldn't want someone discovering how she had died from anyone else. He'd want Lea to ask him directly. So he decided to wait. Maybe, soon, he'd ask about Mark and share his experiences with Kate. Without knowing it, he and Lea had bonded through their shared loss, and he wanted her to understand that he empathized.

Deanna appeared a few hours later, finding the guys glued to the Playstation. Lorne had never been into console games until that incident with Zelenka, but Cam found them incredibly entertaining. So, he learned to play. It reminded him of Atlantis, and the two men wound up trading friendly insults as they competed against the other. Deanna merely shook her head, kissed her husband, touched Lorne's shoulder, and made dinner. After eating and excusing himself, Lorne finished framing the Golden Gate Sunset, as he'd titled the painting, and hung it on his wall. Life was good.

~TBC

**Author's Note II: **Recipe for lasagna. 1 lb ground beef, 1 lg pkg lasagna noodles, 1 can spaghetti sauce of your preferred variety, 1 lg pkg small curd cottage cheese, 1 egg, 2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese, either prepackaged or freshly shredded parmesan cheese (optional). Cook lasagna noodles according to package directions. Brown ground beef, adding bell pepper and onion if desired. Drain and mix with spaghetti sauce. Mix egg with cottage cheese. Spoon thin layer of spaghetti sauce over bottom of 13x9 baking pan. Layer ingredients as follows: cooked lasagna noodles side by side, spaghetti sauce, cottage cheese mixture, mozzarella cheese, ending with the last of the sauce and cheeses. Bake in a 350 degree Fahrenheit oven for 30 minutes. Let stand for five to ten minutes before serving. If you have any questions, PM me. Also, let me know what you think-of the recipe and the story! ~lg


	7. Suspicion

Suspicion

Evan had learned a long time ago that he couldn't force a painting onto the canvas. Artwork required a certain amount of inspiration to be truly great. At the same time, an artist could not simply sit around, waiting for inspiration to hit. He often needed to trust his skills and just paint. Almost a week after his dinner with Lea, he found himself staring at the still unfinished painting of her arbor. He'd managed to capture the light glinting off of the glossy leaves and the flowers dotting the green mass. But, when it came time to paint Lea and Jessie sitting on the bench, his hands had trembled, and he hesitated. He'd painted models before, but he'd never painted someone he knew. He typically reserved that for his sketch book.

Determined to finish the painting, he gathered his supplies and stepped out the front door. The lighting was different today, softer. A thin layer of clouds shrouded the sun, and he frowned at the weak rays that touched the arbor. Perhaps he should wait until a sunny day. At least he'd have the environment right.

Something else bothered him. Evan scowled at the arbor. No, it wasn't with the arbor. The white bench fairly glowed in spite of the weak light, and the green grass complimented the marble-topped tables. Something else had triggered his danger sense. He backed into his house as soon as the hair on the back of his neck stood on end, reaching instinctively for the gun no longer strapped to his thigh. He let out a frustrated sigh. When would he ever get used to _not_ having it there?

Then, he spotted the culprit. The back door to Lea's house was ajar. Evan closed his front door long enough to find the gun he kept next to his bed. Years of serving in hostile environments both on Earth and in the various galaxies of the universe had cemented this one fast rule in his mind: never go to sleep unarmed. He checked to make sure the weapon was loaded and tucked it under his button-down shirt. Man! He really missed that leg holster now!

Evan moved to the back of Lea's home in quick, practiced movements born of countless combat situations. He pressed his back into the wall and listened. Nothing sounded wrong inside the house. He briefly debated whether or not to enter. The last time he'd been here, he had been invited. Lea's home seemed almost sacred to him. It was her hideaway, the place where she retreated to spend time with her daughter. Did he really want to violate that?

Could he afford to let someone else violate that? Evan decided that he would rather have someone he knew in his home unannounced instead of a complete stranger. Aware of possible fingerprints and evidence, he nudged the door open with his shoulder and slipped inside. Training took over, and he suddenly saw the home as enemy territory. He couldn't know what was around the next corner, and he hoped he wouldn't have to use the weapon drew with confident hands. He moved silently through the house, seeing the few breakfast dishes that Lea hadn't had time to wash sitting right beside the coffee set. They still shared coffee in the early mornings, and those few minutes every day had become more important to him than he'd ever dreamed.

Something thudded in another room of the house. Lorne tensed and froze. A muttered curse reached his ears, and he continued to move silently. The kitchen melded into the living room, and a small hallway joined the single bathroom and two bedrooms to each other. Evan used the scant protection of the wall to peek into both bedrooms. Jessie's was clear, but a man in his early twenties stood in Lea's room. The oak sleigh bed wasn't made, and the matching dresser top was cluttered with various hair accessories and perfume bottles. The intruder closed another drawer, causing the same type of thud he'd heard earlier, and opened another one.

Something snapped in Lorne's brain. Seeing someone sift through Lea's clothing so callously ignited a burning rage in his stomach. He clamped down on it, however, and watched. Ronon had taught him to wait patiently, like a hunter stalking his prey. Lorne hated to allow the guy to sort through Lea's personal things, but he knew he'd give up his defendable position if he moved. Instead, he let the wall cover his six as the intruder slipped out of the room with a metal crowbar in his hands. Probably what he'd used to jimmy the lock.

Lorne moved swiftly, bringing his handgun into position behind the thief's left ear. He cocked the weapon just to intimidate the guy and let him know that this wasn't a joke. "Move slowly and carefully out the back door. Any sudden moves, and I've got no qualms about pulling this trigger." He added that last part to satisfy the hot anger coursing through him.

The intruder lifted his hands, and Lorne snatched the crowbar from him. He nudged the guy forward with the gun, and he wondered idly what he'd do outside. It was daytime, after all, and the neighbors were nosy. Lorne knew they already watched his developing friendship with Lea. What would they think if he walked out of her house holding the intruder at gunpoint?

The thief must have sensed his hesitation. As soon as he cleared the doorway, he turned with a lightning quick move, elbow extended and knocking the 9 mm from Lorne's hand. Combat training kicked in, however, and Lorne landed a few punches. The scuffle was brief, and the thief managed to get his hands on the crowbar. Lorne barely saw the weapon heading for his head and managed to duck out of the way. The crowbar still connected with his skull, and Lorne dropped to the ground as the world disappeared in a blaze of color. He blinked and shook his head, groaning when pain blossomed. Footsteps faded into the distance. He scowled at the grass less than an inch from the end of his nose and knew it did him no good to push himself to his feet. The thief was long gone, and Lorne doubted he'd find the guy by frantically searching the neighborhood. He just hoped that Lea didn't panic too badly when he called the cops to report the break-in.

oOo

Lea parked several houses down from her home and jumped from the car. She wore a straight denim skirt that hugged her hips and flared at the knees. The thick fabric around her ankles hindered her movement slightly, and she tugged at the tailored black jacket she'd worn over a white blouse. Why had she picked today, of all days, to wear this outfit? Paired with her favorite black heels, it looked chic and modern. When trying to rush toward her home surrounded by an ambulance and several police cars, it wasn't so practical.

"Lea." She turned at Samuel's voice. She walked toward him, seeing that he had some sort of answer. "He's fine."

She blinked. "Excuse me?"

"Major Lorne is fine. Just a little bump on the head. Maybe a mild concussion to match the cut." Samuel grinned at her sharp glance. "You're like a sister to me. I read you well, and I know that you care about Major Lorne more than you like to let on. He's being checked over by the EMTs now."

"What happened?"

"Someone broke in." Samuel shrugged. "I'll let him tell you about it."

Lea nodded her thanks and headed for the ambulance. She'd received a call less than twenty minutes ago, asking her to come home and deal with an emergency. When she pried, she discovered that Evan had been in a fight, and her home showed signs of forced entry. She rounded the rear of the ambulance and blinked. Evan sat on the gurney, blinking as an EMT shined a light in his eyes. A small cut over his eye had already been bandaged, but blood had crept into his hair.

Lea suddenly struggled to breathe. He was going to be okay. She forced herself to exhale the breath she'd held, and she tried to smile. "Hey."

He pushed the EMT's hand away and sat up suddenly, a scowl the only sign of pain. He reached for her and squeezed her hand. "I'm fine."

She nodded quickly. "I know."

Evan glanced at the EMT. "I'll be right back." He jumped out of the ambulance and actually pulled her into a hug. "I'm not even going to the hospital. Just going to have a bit of a headache for the day."

Lea's arms wrapped around his waist of their own accord, and she listened to his heartbeat. It had been too long since she'd been held by any man other than Samuel, and she struggled to keep her reactions grounded in the current situation. Suddenly, the warmth of Evan's arms sent shivers down her spine. She pulled away before he realized that her reactions no longer had anything to do with his injury. "Okay. If you're okay, I'm going to figure out what happened."

Evan smiled, his blue eyes sparkling at her. "Go." He jabbed a thumb over his shoulder. "I'll be right here or in the back yard."

Lea slipped from his arms and walked toward the head detective on the scene. Detective Harrison Michaels had delivered the news of Mark's death. He stopped by occasionally to check on her and visit with Jessie. Lea appreciated his obvious attempt to put that day behind him and wondered how she could help. Now, he stood on her front porch, hands on his hips as he watched her. He waited until she was close enough to speak quietly. "You've changed."

She blinked. "Sorry?"

Michaels nodded toward the ambulance where Evan answered more of the EMT's questions. "He seems like a good man."

Rather than rising to the bait, she met his eyes. "What happened?"

He grinned at her obvious subject change. "Your tenant. . .Major Lorne. . .called in a forced entry just over twenty minutes ago. Given that you're one of ours, the response time was pretty quick. We found him sitting on the front porch, bleeding from a head wound. He reported that he had left the front of his home and found your back door open. He entered your home through the door and discovered an unidentified male searching through the house. He subdued him without a fight and escorted him out the back door, where a fistfight ensued. Major Lorne took a blow to the head with a crowbar. Frankly," Michaels said as he shook his head, "I'm a little surprised it's not worse. The major has some pretty fast reflexes."

Lea nodded. "You need me to tell you if anything is missing."

"It would give us an idea of what the thief wanted."

She let out a deep breath, this time out of frustration. In all the time that she'd lived here, she'd felt safe in her home. Now, that sanctuary had been violated. Evan's presence there didn't bother her. She actually wanted to hug him again for noticing the intruder. Rather than voicing these thoughts, she stepped through her front door.

The living room looked untouched. As did the kitchen, bathroom, and Jessie's room. She cringed at the condition of her bedroom. She hadn't made the bed in weeks, and Michaels raised an eyebrow at that. Lea ignored him. Over the last three years, she'd become an expert at putting up a façade. The rest of the house was simply a cover for how things really were. She wasn't keeping up as well as others thought.

A few of her perfume bottles lay on their sides. Lea frowned. While she rarely wore several of them, Mark had bought them for her. She always made sure they stood proudly on the back of her dresser. She pointed out the difference to Michaels, and he opened the drawers with a gloved hand. Lea flushed as he stared at her nightgowns. Most were dorm shirts that she easily slipped into at night. But a few were elegant and expensive. She hadn't worn those in a long time. Now, the shirts and gowns lay in a jumble. Even if the intruder hadn't been detected, she would have known he'd been there. A quick search produced similar results all around her room. The intruder had rifled through her clothing, disturbing the most intimate apparel she owned.

Michaels called a female officer into the room to catalog the evidence and check for fingerprints. Lea walked back outside, sick to her stomach. Someone had entered her home for the specific purpose of examining her underclothes? That didn't seem right. There had to be something else going on here.

Evan spotted her as she stood in the center of her yard and approached from behind. Lea didn't move toward him, but she accepted his presence with a quick glance. He moved close, not touching her but near enough to overwhelm her with his presence. She drew comfort from that simple gesture.

Hours later, she stood in her kitchen, trying to figure out what to feed Jessie. By the time the police left, she needed to get Jessie from the daycare. She returned home and ignored the violated feeling. Would she ever feel safe in her own home again?

Jessie barged through the back door. "Mommy, Mr. Evan wants to talk to you."

Lea smiled at her daughter's excited voice and followed her outside. Evan stood at the fence, his hair freshly washed and spiking slightly in the front. She tried to stop the warmth his concerned eyes caused. "Jessie says you wanted to see me?"

He studied her. "How are you?"

She glanced behind her. Jessie had returned to her swing set, gleefully swinging as high as possible. "Not good," she confessed in a quiet tone. "I'm still a little in shock from today, and I never thought I'd feel so. . .unsafe in my own home."

He accepted her answer with a nod. "Want to come over for a while?" He shrugged. "I'm not as good a cook as you are, but I can make a mean steak on the grill."

Lea debated the wisdom of accepting his invitation. While she'd been in that apartment before, it had always been the empty, impersonal apartment of a man who lived overseas. Now, with Evan's presence evident in every little thing, she didn't know if her heart would survive it. But would she be able to relax for the evening if she didn't? "Okay."

He grinned at that. "Come on in, then."

Lea followed him, and Jessie joined her. She held her daughter's hand, wishing she could just pull the little girl onto her lap and hug her. Jessie didn't know about what had happened that day. Lea wanted it to stay that way. Once, while Mark was alive, she had insisted that she be involved in his work to some extent. She'd always wanted to know the danger he faced. Now, she just hoped to forget it.

Evan's home had changed. The white walls and gray carpet stayed the same. But a massive painting of the Golden Gate Bridge filled the wall, brightening the room with it's vibrant oranges and golds. Another smaller painting of a city skyline graced the wall behind the couch. Lea looked around, amazed. He'd done so much work in the short time that he'd been home. In the dining area, his art transformed a local coffee shop into a warm, exotic locale. She spied several other paintings leaning against the walls or hiding under draped cloth. All of them bore a tiny "EL" in the bottom right corner. Lea shook her head and moved back to the painting of the Golden Gate Bridge. Evan's work showed a love for life and color, something that clashed with her image of him and his classified work.

Jessie returned to the yard after a quick tour, and Evan let Lea wander as he prepared the steaks. She stood in front of every painting for long minutes, absorbing every impression. Each one had its own mood. The Golden Gate Bridge spoke of longing with it's mysteriously dark city behind the brilliant bridge. The cityscape over the couch dazzled with amazement and wonder. The coffee shop drew her into a place of comfortable warmth. Finally, she turned to the man puttering around the kitchen. "You're really good. Have you thought about selling your art?"

"Yeah, but I don't know that I will." He finished his work, and they moved outside as he prepared the grill. "It's an escape for me, not a job."

"I can understand. Music is like that sometimes."

They didn't speak as he cooked. Lea watched him, absorbing the impressions that his home had stirred in her. Most of it bore the spotless quality of a career military man, but little spots showed the eclectic artist underneath. His art supplies crowded the corner near the door. Several charcoal pencils and a sketchpad littered the table. By the time they sat down to eat, Lea decided that she'd better avoid any more intimate dinners with him. If she didn't, she'd lose her heart to him. If she hadn't done so already.

~TBC


	8. Watchdog

Watchdog

The next day, Lorne arrived home from a quick visit to the SGC. He'd not wanted to go to the local hospital, but he knew that Dr. Lam and Dr. Keller would both murder him for not having his head examined after that fight. So, with the headache no longer an issue, he submitted to Keller's ministrations while explaining the fight to her. Since it appeared to be gang related, the SGC refused to get involved. Lorne appreciated Landry's decision and hoped that the police would figure out why Lea had been targeted.

As he parked his truck, he caught sight of a black car parked a couple houses away. He frowned as he glimpsed movement through the windows. Someone in his neighborhood was still under surveillance, and Lea could possibly be in danger. Knowing that the surveillance might have something to do with the break-ins, he pulled his 9 mm from the console of his truck and tucked it in the back of his jeans. His button-down shirt covered it, and Lorne wryly noted that he'd never been one to stand on ceremony when out of uniform. In fact, his casual attire seemed to defy the neatness of a military uniform.

Rather than employing any of the standard stealth techniques he'd learned over the years, he opted for a more direct approach. He locked his truck and tucked his keys in his pocket as he walked directly toward the Fed sitting in the car. The guy never moved, merely watched him. Lorne clenched a fist, angry that Lea's safety had not been protected when someone clearly knew more about what went on in this neighborhood than the actual police. He yanked the car door open and slid into the passenger seat.

The Fed with dark curly hair cut close to his head turned and smiled. "I wondered how long it would take you to approach me."

Lorne glared at him. "Who are you?"

"Agent Samuel Bates, IOA," he said, pulling a badge from his pocket.

"You've been watching me?" Lorne hadn't dealt with the IOA as much due to his posting on Atlantis.

Bates smiled. "No, I've been watching Lea." He motioned toward the various houses on the street. "I'm sure you've noticed the gang activity."

"You could say that."

"I'm here to figure out why its happening."

"By lurking in the shadows?"

"Oh, I don't lurk." Bates sipped his coffee. "Lea doesn't know I'm here all the time, but she knows I'm around. Difference is, she thinks I worked with Mark." He eyed the major. "How's your head, by the way?"

"Fine." Lorne relaxed into the seat. "Why would the IOA trouble itself with local gang activities?"

"Come on Major." Bates let out an amused chuckle. "You should know better than that."

"Humor me." Lorne's tone earned a glance, but he didn't care. He was tired of feeling the need to watch over Lea without knowing why. "Look, this isn't the first time someone has tried to break into her home. It happened about a week ago, as well. I just ran the guy off before he could get into the home."

Bates turned suddenly. "You're telling me this was the _second_ attempt to break into Lea's home?"

"Didn't seem like an attempt to me," Lorne pointed out. "But, yeah. Second time I've found someone either attempting or succeeding in breaking into Lea's home. So, pardon me for being a little upset that the IOA is watching my landlady while gangs try to access her residence for God-only-knows-what."

Bates expression returned to one of amusement, but he pulled a small notebook from his pocket. "Do me a favor, Major. Tell me what happened that first time."

Lorne obliged, telling Bates everything about the previous incident. He'd never been so grateful for a guard dog in his entire life. The neighbors had trained their pet well, and the dog had responded on cue, running the intruder away. Bates dutifully wrote down the details that Lorne shared, his amused smile fading as he realized the pattern developing. After making his report, Lorne eyed the IAO watchdog. "Mind telling me why you've got Lea under surveillance?"

Bates tucked his notepad in his jacket pocket and grinned again. "You have no idea how well we do our jobs, do you?" He shook his head. "I know the SGC has had a horrible time with the IOA and the Trust. I get that. But we're not all bad. I was assigned to monitor Mark Davies the day you rented your apartment. We do this for all SGC personnel who live off base. When Mark died, Lea became our number one concern in that area. We've kept a watchful eye on her the entire time you were in Pegasus."

"Watchful eye?"

"With you living on the property, both Mark and Lea were vetted at the highest levels." Bates shook his head. "Even their neighbors were vetted. We couldn't have one of our best military assets as far as Atlantis was concerned returning home to a dangerous neighborhood where people would possibly figure out what he does for a living. Until now, we've never had a problem. Then, a couple weeks ago, gang activity increased in the area. There have been several break-ins in various locations throughout the few blocks surrounding you, but the center of the activity seems to be here. I'm on hand to figure out if it's related to you or if it's due to the vacant house a block away becoming a meeting place for the gang."

Lorne rubbed his face, not quite believing his ears. Lea had a watchdog from the NID trailing her every move. Another thought occurred to him, and he frowned. "Marissa?"

"My work." Bates checked his coffee cup and frowned when it was obviously empty. "Right after Mark died, we let Lea grieve. She had Jessie, and the income from your rent and Mark's pension kept her afloat. It still does. But she withdrew completely, and I started noticing an unhealthy pattern in her. So, I spoke with your cousin, Danny, about his wife's case management agency. It turned out that someone needed to tackle the office paperwork to free up the case managers to do their work. I recommended Lea, explained the situation since Danny has clearance, and got her the job. She wasn't happy at first, but she seems to like it now."

Lorne finally allowed himself to fully relax. "So, you hang out here, watching Lea from the shadows most nights?"

"Most nights." Bates shrugged. "I leave the daytime to you."

"Oh, that's nice to know," Lorne said dryly. "Thaaanks."

"No problem. After yesterday, though, I figured you'd want to know about the possible threat."

"You were here yesterday?"

"You were a little preoccupied, first with the head wound," Bates said as he motioned to his own forehead, "and then when Lea appeared. Thank you for that, by the way. I don't think I've seen her calm down that quickly since Mark passed away."

"Glad I could be of service."

Bates laughed. "Relax, Major. I've known Lea for several years, and I can safely say that I have no feelings for her-at least, not the way you have for her. Don't deny it," he said , raising a hand before Lorne could speak. "I've watched you two, remember."

"Yeah, remind me why that's a good thing, again." Lorne allowed a grin to escape even as he tried to forget that he'd been watched since his arrival two weeks ago.

The two men continued to talk, their conversation ranging from Lea to the situation in the neighborhood. While the NID didn't know if the gangs were targeting Lea or targeting a nice neighborhood, they'd amassed a large amount of intelligence. On top of that, Lorne discovered that Mark had spent some time working with a detective to solve a gang-related murder. Bates wondered if that particular case had any bearing on Lea's current troubles. Either way, Lorne left the car an hour later with a greater understanding of Lea's predicament and a determination to protect her no matter what happened.

oOo

Lea stood in her bedroom that evening, staring at the bags on her bed as she frowned. Marissa had decided that they needed a "girl's day out," and Lea hadn't been able to resist. After all, she hadn't spent much money on clothing in the last couple of years. The two women closed the office early and headed for the local mall, laughing over coffee and talking about nothing. Marissa even called her sister-in-law, Deanna Mitchell, but Deanna hadn't been able to get away from work.

Now, Lea wondered if she'd made a mistake. Throughout the day, she'd realized exactly how strong Evan's hold on her had become. Every outfit that she purchased had come with the thought, _Evan would like this._ It made her rethink her decision to continue renting the apartment. Then, she thought about the previous day, and her resolve to keep things platonic faded. She didn't want to stay friends with Evan Lorne. She wanted something more-much more.

Irritated at second-guessing herself, Lea set about putting the new clothes away. She'd spent quite a bit of money, but her lifestyle didn't accurately reflect the high income she received. The monthly rent from Evan's apartment covered the majority of her living expenses, and Mark's pension made up the rest of it. Her full-time job for Marissa just sat in a savings account, accruing interest. It was time to spend some of that money on updating her wardrobe.

Even Jessie got some new things. The little girl had been ecstatic when she discovered the black patent leather dress shoes and three new dresses that her mother had bought. Lea smiled at her daughter's enthusiasm and had to agree. She'd found a rather nice pair of heels for church, and she couldn't wait to wear them. She just wished she could see Evan's reaction to some of these clothes. None of them were inappropriately revealing. They just accentuated her figure and made her eyes stand out.

By that evening, Lea had tired of all the questions. Her relationship with Evan aside, she still had to deal with the idea that someone had invaded her home. She managed to get Jessie put to bed with little trouble, and then she slipped out the back door. The arbor invited her, and she settled on the bench to enjoy the last few rays of the sunshine.

Evan appeared a few moments later. He looked concerned in spite of the nasty bruise on his head. "You okay?"

"Yeah." She patted the seat beside her. "Just thinking."

He settled on the bench, turning to face her. "Care to share?"

It echoed his question two weeks ago when they first talked about Mark. Tonight, she wanted to just share everything and not think about anything. "I don't even know where to start."

He chuckled. "I know the feeling."

"How are you doing?"

"Fine." He touched the bruise on his head. "I went to my doctor today, and it looks worse than it actually is."

"Good." Lea sighed. "I'm not sure how to relax, now. I mean, I always knew that Mark's work was dangerous. He got killed in the line of duty, for crying out loud!" She shook her head. "I guess I never expected it to invade my home."

Evan didn't comment. He just nodded, letting her vent the emotions she'd kept bottled inside all day.

She sighed. "I spoke with Detective Michaels today. He thinks it's related to a case that Mark helped him with. Something gang-related. I don't know what to think of that. I mean, is my daughter even safe? Am _I_ safe? I have to think about all of this now. And I don't have Mark here to help me with it." She suddenly wanted to kick herself. She sat next to one of the most wonderful men on the planet, and she bemoaned the absence of her husband. In a funny way, it made sense to her.

"I think I understand," Evan said softly.

"You do?"

He nodded. "A couple years ago, I started dating the base psychologist. Her name was Kate." He looked at his hands. "We'd only gone on a couple dates before she died in her sleep. It was a freak thing, something that most women her age won't deal with. I think her heart gave out. After that, I just wandered around. No one really knew we were dating, and I didn't want their sympathy. But she and I had talked a lot in the last few months before that, and I knew that I could trust her with anything. Not having that around made the decisions even more significant."

"And difficult," Lea added. "You can't imagine what it's like to lose that person when you've spent years together. I know Mark and I weren't married very long. About a year. But we dated for two years. He was always there for me. Then, he wasn't."

Evan eyed her. "How did he die?"

"Shootout at a hostage situation gone bad." She shook her head. "He was wearing his bulletproof vest. But a civilian got involved, and Mark dove to pin the guy to the ground when the bullets started flying. One of the bullets entered under his arm, right where the vest doesn't protect. Punctured a lung and an artery. He bled out on the scene."

Evan stayed quiet for a moment, and Lea realized that the bitter agony of Mark's death had faded into something akin to regret. She would always remember her husband, but she had finally moved on. Perhaps that's why the clothes she bought that afternoon bothered her so badly. Perhaps she'd unconsciously come out of the deep valley of her grief and realized that she wanted someone else in her life, someone who actually understood her better than any other man she knew. Samuel tried to sympathize, but Evan had visited similar emotions.

She let out a deep breath. "Wow. That helped a lot."

He glanced at her. "Talking about it?"

"Knowing you understand." She let him see the emotions on her face, not trying to hide anything. She'd hidden for so long, and she was tired of hiding. Suddenly, she cared what he thought, and she wondered if being so transparent was such a great idea.

Evan held her gaze for a few moments and then glanced down. "I hope you never have to go through that again."

"Me, too." Lea smiled, breaking the heavy spell. Unlike the day when she'd discovered him painting in her back yard, this spell bound them together on a deep, emotional level. She still thought him the most attractive man alive. But tonight had done more than spark a physical attraction between them. It bonded their hearts.

Tired of her melodramatic thought, she rose. "I should get back inside." She smiled slightly. "I took the afternoon off to get some needed clothes-for both me and Marissa."

Mention of his cousin's pregnant wife brought a grin to Evan's face. "I heard she's getting big already."

"You have no idea." Lea shook her head. "I think she's going to have twins. They do run in the family, after all."

"Wouldn't be surprised." He also stood and headed back to his home. A few steps away, he turned and smiled at her. "Dream well."

"I will." Lea smiled again, this time warmed by his concern. She would most definitely dream well. Evan's blue eyes made sure of that.

~TBC


	9. Friends

**Author's Note: **Big thanks to TychoV for helping me come up with the gag in this chapter. Hope you enjoy. ~lg

Friends

The following evening, Lorne set about framing three new paintings. The one of Jessie and Lea leaned against his living room wall, still unfinished. These three smaller ones had distracted him during the week, and he had finally decided it was okay. His emotions were in an uproar right now. Lea's need for social contact, not to mention her honesty last night, combined to make a powerful drug. In some ways, he wondered if he'd ever be able to forget about her. In others, he wondered if he needed to break things off before they became too serious.

"Get a grip, Lorne," he muttered to himself. He had never been one to second-guess his decisions, and he wasn't about to start now.

Tires rolling to a stop in Lea's gravel drive ended that line of thought. Lorne listened closely, knowing he'd hear Jessie's excited chatter if it was Lea. Instead, he heard footsteps moving about and car doors closing gently. Besides, Lea had told him that she'd be out late tonight. Marissa and Deanna insisted on a girl's night out, and Cam and Danny volunteered to watch Jessie for the evening. Those two men, "uncles" to Jessie, would wear out the little girl so that her mother could sleep in the next morning. As for the ladies, Evan knew from personal experience that neither Deanna nor Marissa possessed a wild side-at least, not one that he wanted to know about.

The footsteps approached his apartment, one set louder than the other. Lorne reached for the gun he kept close to the door and glared at the windows lining the room near the ceiling. He'd always liked the privacy those high windows afforded. Now, he wanted to see out onto his porch. When the knock came, he answered the door with his left hand while he held the gun behind his back with his right.

Ronon laid his head to the side, glaring at him. "What's with the gun?"

Sheppard whirled and frowned. "Major?"

"Sir." Lorne straightened and let the two men into his home, all pretense of hiding the weapon gone. "Sorry. Just wasn't expecting company."

"Obviously," Sheppard said, motioning to the 9 mm still in Lorne's hand. Ronon stared curiously.

"Yeah, things have been interesting around here for the last few weeks." Lorne switched the safety back on and set the gun in the small table next to the door. "Drink?"

Ronon's glare disappeared with an expression somewhere between distaste and apathy. "Sure."

Sheppard nodded. "Sounds good."

Lorne moved to his fridge and pulled out three cans of beer. He didn't drink often, and he'd bought this six pack right after returning home. Five cans remained, and he knew Ronon would drink most of them. The Satedan had spent the first few weeks on Earth complaining about the lack of decent alcohol. Now, he plopped onto Lorne's couch and stared at the painting on the wall. "That's pretty good."

"Thanks," Lorne said sheepishly as he handed out the drinks.

Sheppard examined the painting up close. "That the one you spent a week working on in Atlantis?"

"Yes, Sir."

"Lorne, you're on leave." Sheppard thought for a moment. "For that matter, I'm on leave. So drop the 'sir.'"

Lorne grinned, knowing Sheppard wouldn't appreciate the teasing he gave to Deanna's husband, another Lieutenant Colonel in the Air Force. Instead, he pulled a chair from the dining room and sat down in it, not complaining when Ronon propped booted feet on the coffee table. "What brings you here?"

Sheppard turned and settled on the couch opposite from Ronon. "Got an interesting report today."

Lorne frowned. "Thought you said you were on leave?"

"I am. For two days." Sheppard held up his can. "I thought I'd come check on my second-in-command after a report about his involvement in a break-in crossed my desk."

Lorne set aside his beer and rubbed his face. It wasn't tasting good, and he wasn't sure how much of his pseudo-relationship with Lea he wanted to explain. "Things have changed around here." He let out a deep breath. "I got home and found out within minutes that my landlord was killed shortly after I arrived on Atlantis. His wife now owns the property. I didn't know the man well, but he was a good man. A good cop."

Sheppard nodded, understanding. They'd all lost people while in Pegasus, good people merely serving their country and planet.

"About a week after I got here, there was an attempted break-in." Lorne went on to tell them about the gang presence, the second break-in, and Bates's presence.

Sheppard held up a hand. "Wait. _Bates_ is her IOA watchdog." He nodded approvingly. "He's good."

"Yes, he is," Lorne replied, stopping just short of adding the obligatory "Sir" to the end of the sentence. He filled them in on Bates's suspicions and intelligence. "So, that's why I'm a little jumpy about unannounced visitors."

"I understand," Sheppard said. Ronon, however, finished off the first can of beer and started on the second. He said nothing but watched Lorne closely.

For his part, Evan tired of the attention. "What's going on with Atlantis?"

"You know, the usual." Sheppard waved aside the question. "We're cloaked in the middle of the ocean, just outside of San Francisco Bay. The IOA is taking their dear, sweet time in interviewing all our personnel, and Landry's not sure where they're going to place us. Right now, even Woolsey's fed up."

Lorne's eyebrows rose. "Really? I don't think I've ever seen that. Wait," he held up a hand as he thought about the previous year, "I think he got fed up about the time that coalition kidnapped you and your team."

"It's kinda funny to watch," Sheppard confessed. Lorne had to agree. Woolsey was a by-the-books man, and Pegasus was a seat-of-your-pants galaxy. Perhaps that's why Sheppard did so well while there. His natural disregard for rules and orders served him well.

A knock interrupted their conversation. Evan didn't bother with the gun as he answered the door, trusting the combat skills of the men in his home. Even dressed in jeans, boots, button-down shirt, and blazer, Ronon could intimidate most human criminals. Those he couldn't intimidate, he could flatten.

Lea stood just outside, looking very unlike herself. Her long denim skirt hugged her curves, and she wore a tailored blouse over it. Her eyes were fully green, and her hair fell around her face in loose, messy curls. She had secured it in a loose ponytail at the nape of her neck, and the effect was stunning. She grinned. "I'm sorry to interrupt, but I need your company to move their car."

Evan turned, not trusting his voice. Sheppard, however, jumped up from his seat. "Oh! Sorry about that." He grinned and stuck out his hand. "John Sheppard. That's Ronon Dex behind me."

Ronon waved from the couch.

Lea shook Sheppard's hand, and Lorne noticed the quick appraisal she gave his CO. As Sheppard left to move his car, Lorne turned back to her. "Where's Jessie?"

"Crashed and probably won't wake up until ten tomorrow morning." Lea grinned. "Your cousins wore her out."

"Mitchell has a way of doing that," Lorne agreed. "She still in the car?"

"No, I carried her inside. Figured she would be more comfortable in her own bed." Lea nodded to Sheppard as he returned. "Thanks."

Sheppard glanced between her and Lorne. "No problem."

Lea began to leave, and then she stopped a few steps away. "Come over tomorrow afternoon." She glanced at Sheppard and Ronon. "All of you. I'll make lunch."

Sheppard never even looked at Lorne. "Sounds good. About two?"

Lea's smile blossomed again, and she waved. "See you then."

Lorne closed the door behind her, not really sure he wanted his CO to see his reaction to her presence. The change in her was drastic, and he knew it had a lot to do with their chat last night. After all, they had shared some pretty deep emotions. He allowed Lea to see more of him than he'd ever allowed anyone outside of Kate Heightmeyer. By the time he turned around, Sheppard had settled back into his place on the couch, and Ronon narrowed his eyes.

"Have you told her yet?" he asked.

Lorne blinked. "Told who what?"

"Lea." Ronon pointed at him. "That you're in love with her."

Beside him, Sheppard choked on his drink. Part of the beer flew threw the air, landing in the colonel's hair and on the table. The rest went into his lungs and sinuses, coming out his nose moments later. Lorne dove for a kitchen towel as Ronon thumped Sheppard on the back. Finally, Sheppard glared at him. "Tell me he's joking," he said in a strangled voice.

Lorne took a deep breath and shook his head. "Can't do that, Sir."

Sheppard stared, and Lorne mentally prepared himself. From now on, he'd have to endure the well-meaning nudges, especially tomorrow when the two men met Jessie. He wondered if he would survive it.

oOo

Lea stood in her kitchen, listening as the three guys in the living room roared at some joke. Jessie had greeted Evan with her usual enthusiasm and even warmed to Sheppard. Ronon intimidated the girl, however. Lea understood. Ronon stood well over six feet tall, but his green eyes were gentle in spite of his bear-like appearance. Content that the green chile stew simmered and was seasoned to perfection, Lea peeked into the other room. Evan sat on the piano bench, his iced tea cradled in his hands. Ronon had claimed the couch, and Sheppard perched in her favorite chair. Sheppard had watched her interactions with Evan and clearly come to several conclusions. Rather than confirming those conclusions, Lea chose to lean against the arch that led from the kitchen into the living room.

She'd never seen Evan so relaxed. Oh, he laughed at Jessie, and they often shared soft, intimate moments. But this was different. These men were his brothers, and they had seen some horrific things together. Sheppard's bearing spoke of military service, and Ronon's eyes held dark shadows. But the three men set that aside today and laughed over good times.

"Remember the doors?" Evan asked.

"Mmm." Sheppard nodded. "The doors were great."

Lea couldn't resist when she saw the sparkle in Evan's eyes. "The doors? As in the band?"

"No, as in literal doors," Ronon added.

Sheppard chuckled and turned to her. "We had some scientists on base who were insufferable. Once, on a field mission, they became so unbearable that we just teased them to get them to shut up. Especially McKay. He calmed down a lot toward the end of the mission, but he used to be unbearably arrogant."

Ronon raised an eyebrow. "Used to be?"

Sheppard waved him off. "Anyway, after this mission, we came home and found our doors reprogrammed." He scowled slightly. "Our base had these security locks-kind of like retinal scanners or thumbprint type things. Anyway, they could be programmed to respond to verbal commands. I headed back to my quarters, and my door asked me a question."

Evan laughed. "All of ours did. But McKay had programmed the doors to ask us questions in each other's voices."

Lea felt the grin tugging at her lips. She didn't quite get the joke, but the guys' amusement was contagious. "What were the questions?"

Evan's grin widened. "Well, the colonel's was, 'What item did Sheppard forget to pack in his grooming kit?' We figured out real quick that McKay was behind it because he teased Sheppard about his hair."

Sheppard nodded. "And the major's was, 'What is liquid but requires a fork to eat?'"

Lea raised her eyebrows. "Not sure I want to know.

Evan waved a hand. "Chicken noodle soup. I use a fork to eat the noodles and all before I sip the broth. Something I picked up from my dad."

"Anyway," Sheppard said, bringing the conversation back to the original topic, "we all got together and figured out who was behind the passwords on our doors. So, we got one of the other scientists to help us out. McKay thinks he's the greatest mind since Einstein, so it wasn't hard to get under his skin. We programmed his door to ask, 'Who is smarter than the great Rodney McKay?' in this strange computer voice. Kinda like in _Star Trek_."

Ronon let out a loud laugh, and Evan shook his head. "I wish I could have been there to see his expression when he got on the radio. He called Zelenka, another member of the expedition who is just as brilliant as McKay but a lot more humble. The door opened in front of him, and he hit the ceiling."

Sheppard laughed again. "Wouldn't talk to us for a week. But it was worth it. Never had to worry about being teased about my hair again."

The men went on to talk about other incidents on their mission, and Lea returned to the kitchen. The green chile stew was ready to serve, and she knew Jessie wouldn't be hungry. She'd fed her daughter earlier, and the little girl happily avoided the strangers in her home. Lea served the stew into large bowls, pausing momentarily as she added spoons to each one. She bit her lip and then grinned. The spirit of the afternoon had definitely worn off onto her.

Sheppard and Ronon accepted their bowls of stew with different reactions. Sheppard thanked her, and Ronon sniffed the steam. He seemed pleased with the aroma and tasted the broth, a grin breaking out on his face when he tasted it. "This is good!"

"Thank you." Lea carried her own bowl as well as Evan's to the living room. She handed Evan's to him and dropped onto the floor, more than willing to leave the furniture to the guys.

The talk trailed off as the men sampled their meals. Then, Evan sputtered. "What the. . . .?"

Lea grinned, Sheppard choked in an attempt to swallow his food, and Ronon let out another loud guffaw. Evan sat on the piano bench, holding a fork and glaring at all of them. In her chair, Sheppard nodded. "Now, that's one smart woman!"

"I'll say," Ronon added.

Evan glared at the two men before eating his green chile stew. With a fork.

~TBC


	10. Stranger

Stranger

The week passed quietly. Lea enjoyed the calm even though she never fully forgot about the break-in. Evan helped a lot. He appeared after his run each morning, sharing those quiet hours with her. Jessie also helped by distracting her. After all, she didn't have time to worry as she chased her four-year-old around the house in an impromptu tickle fest. Lea tried to play with Jessie often, but she usually arrived home exhausted. It made the rare times even more special.

There were changes in that week. Lea noticed that Evan became more attentive to her needs. She never really changed her approach to him, but he seemed to read her better than he had in previous days. She wondered if it had anything to do with the visit from his coworkers or if it related to the break-in. She didn't care, either way. She just liked having him so close. Jessie also loved him. After Sheppard and Ronon left, Jessie changed his name from "Mr. Evan" to "Uncle Evan." At first, he blinked dubiously, but Lea accepted the change. Her daughter craved male attention, and she had adopted several uncles since neither she nor Mark had any siblings.

Even the house changed. Evan's touches appeared in the neatly trimmed grass and minor repairs taking place. Lea appreciated that more than she could say. In the last three years, so many things on the house fell into disrepair, and she had neither the time nor the expertise to fix them.

Nine days after Sheppard and Ronon visited, Lea sat in the office of Colorado Springs Case Management, glaring at the computer screen. Her job required an internet connection to get the majority of the work accomplished. While the office kept hard copies of different files, each client also had a virtual file which held the majority of the providers' reports and medical paperwork. Today, the internet connection had gone down, and the internet provider wouldn't be able to get to it until the next day. Lea had plenty of meeting minutes to type and other miscellaneous paperwork to fill out, but she'd wanted to finish the mail.

Her cell phone rang, and she frowned at the caller ID. It was Jessie's child care center. "Hello?"

"Mrs. Davies, this is Sandra over at the daycare center." The woman sounded a little uncertain. "There's a gentleman here asking to pick up Jessie. He says you gave him permission and even has a note with your signature."

Lea's heart pounded in her chest, and she struggled to breathe. "What?" After a moment, she pulled herself together. "I didn't authorize anyone besides myself to pick up my daughter." _Oh, God, it's happening again!_ she thought.

Sandra let out a deep breath. "I thought that was the case, but I wanted to make sure."

"I'm on my way!" Lea began gathering her purse and keys. "Don't let Jessie go with him! I'll be there in a few minutes!" She ended the call before Sandra had a chance to say anything. Her nervous movements knocked a file from the desk and scattered papers all over the floor. She stopped just short of cursing at them as she began to hurriedly gather the papers in some semblance of order.

"Lea?" Marissa appeared, clearly disturbed by the commotion. "What happened?"

"A stranger's trying to pick up Jessie from the sitter's, and I have no idea who it is!" Lea closed her eyes, trying to calm the tears. Her hands shook, and she felt as if she would be sick.

Marissa's face cleared. "Call Evan."

"What?"

"You need a calm presence around you, and he won't mind." Marissa pinned her in place with a single look. "Call Evan. Then go get your daughter. If you need to, bring her back. Otherwise, I'll see you tomorrow." When Lea tried to finish gathering the paperwork that kept growing, Marissa stopped her with a hand on her shoulder. "Go. I've got this."

Lea nodded and let out another deep breath. She didn't need to collapse right now. She needed to pull herself together and go get her daughter. She could collapse later, after Jessie went to bed. But not now. Now, she needed. . . . The mantra repeated in her head as she climbed into her car. Once there, she pulled out her cell phone and dialed another number.

"Lorne here." The calm voice brought tears to her eyes. He must be painting. He didn't speak with that warm undertone unless he stood in front of an easel.

"Evan?" She tried to steady her voice. "I need you to meet me at Jessie's child care center."

"Okay, what happened?" His tone changed slightly, becoming more businesslike.

"Someone tried to pick her up, and I don't know who." She started the car. "Sandra just said it was a man with a note from me. But I didn't give a note to anyone."

"I'm on my way." He disconnected the call after getting directions, and Lea breathed a miniscule sigh of relief. With Evan on the way, she'd be able to get through this.

He met her at the child care center, arriving only moments before she did. By then, Lea had yelled at every driver on the road to get out of her way. She'd pounded the steering wheel and worked to control her emotions. They were obviously still out of control because Evan confronted her before she could reach the door. He took her shoulders in a firm grip and met her eyes. "You need to calm down."

"I'm trying."

"I know." He never looked away. "But Jessie doesn't need to see you like this. You can come apart later, and I'll be there when it happens. But, right now, I need you to pull it together."

Lea put her hands on his arms, allowing the firm embrace to steady her. "Thanks for meeting me."

He gave her a wry glance. "This is my niece you're talking about. Of course I'd meet you."

Lea nodded once and pasted a calm expression on her face. She knew her eyes still held a wild look, and she let out several deep breaths. Evan smiled at her obvious attempt and pulled her into his arms. Lea allowed him to hold her, drawing strength from the warmth of his arms and the steady sound of his heartbeat. Rather than dwelling on the reasons for that, she let it soothe her. She finally pulled away, and Evan seemed content with what he saw. He released her and followed her into the center.

Jessie still played with her classmates. Lea almost rushed directly to her but didn't want to frighten her daughter. Instead, she forced herself to calmly sign Jessie out of the center and allow the little girl to slowly gather her things. When she saw Evan, however, Jessie rushed to him and threw herself into his arms with a squeal.

Lea forced a laugh. "Now I know where I stand."

Evan grinned over Jessie's shoulder. "Apparently." He waited for Lea to walk outside before holding out his hand. "Keys." When Lea eyed his truck, he waved a hand. "Cam and Deanna will come get it later. I'm not letting you drive right now."

Lea meekly handed the keys to him and climbed into the passenger seat. She didn't feel like fighting traffic just to get home. In the back seat, Jessie chattered about her day. Evan listened closely as he drove, asking questions that made the little girl think. Lea shook her head. He would make a wonderful father one day.

When they arrived home, Evan herded them toward his apartment. Lea refused to complain. As much as she wanted to be home, she didn't want to be alone. She remembered days while married to Mark when she craved time to herself. Those days would come again, but she merely wanted company right now. Evan distracted Jessie with a simple art lesson at the dining table, allowing Lea to stare at his painting of the Golden Gate bridge.

Finally, he moved to her side, invading her space without touching her. "That's the second version of the Bridge that I've painted. I gave the first one to Deanna."

"It's unique." Lea struggled to keep her calm façade in place. "Were you on a boat to get this angle?"

"You could say that." He sounded amused, but she heard the edge to his voice. He put a hand on her shoulder, and Lea stiffened. "Hey, relax." He massaged her shoulder slightly. "She's sleeping."

Lea whirled and spotted Jessie on the couch. The little girl had obviously fallen asleep while drawing, and she immediately wanted to take a picture. Evan thought the same thing because he held up a digital camera. "I'll make sure you get a copy."

"Thanks." She glanced at him. "For everything."

He nodded once before tugging on her hand. "Come here."

Lea let him pull her into his arms again, and she laid her head on his chest. Who was she kidding? She loved this man as deeply as she'd loved Mark. They hadn't officially "dated" at all, but she knew him. He had allowed her to see his heart, and she trusted him in return.

Unwanted tears came to her eyes, and she refused to hold them back. Evan tightened his hold on her as she cried, not saying a word. Lea appreciated his silence as much as she appreciated his presence. This man was a rock, and she needed that in her life. The tears came harder as she let out the frustration of the break-in along with the fear of losing her daughter. She'd never experienced more ups and downs in one month's time except for the month following Mark's death.

Finally, the storm passed, and Lea lifted her head. She refused to apologize for her emotions. Evan never said a word but merely allowed her to slip into the bathroom to wash her face. Lea stood over the sink, drained. She'd just spent every last ounce of energy she had in that emotional storm, and she wanted nothing more than to curl up on the couch next to her daughter and sleep.

Evan spoke quietly on his cell phone when she reappeared. Lea let him talk, moving to the couch to pull her daughter into her arms. Jessie stirred briefly but drifted back to sleep on her mother's lap. Moments later, Lea's eyes drifted closed, and she didn't have the strength to open them. Mother and daughter slept on the couch, content that they were safe.

oOo

Lorne ended his phone conversation with Deanna and blinked at the scene that met his eyes. Lea had apparently given up all pretenses of staying awake. She'd pulled Jessie into her lap, and the little girl slept on her mother's shoulder while Lea had apparently laid her head back for only a moment. After that emotional storm, a moment was all it took. Rather than taking another picture, he located a spare blanket and covered them. Lea's trust humbled him, and he wondered if he'd be able to keep them safe forever.

Pulling his mind from those thoughts, he returned to the painting he'd set aside when Lea called. He had taken a picture of a sunset from an F302 and now worked to paint it. The angles were wrong, but his experience had taught him that everything could be fixed. He wished that were true in life. His eyes drifted back to Lea. If everything was fixed, he'd be back in Pegasus and would never have met her. He wasn't sure if he liked that idea any better than he liked Atlantis being stranded in the Pacific.

Jessie awoke before her mother. Evan smiled as the little girl climbed into his lap and laid her head on his shoulder. Even if he hadn't fallen for her mother, he would have been in love with this little girl. Jessie had taken all of five minutes to wrap him around her little finger. She recovered from her nap quickly but accepted his quiet words about letting her mother rest.

Lea woke thirty minutes later, jerking upright and then cringing as she rubbed her neck. She blinked at Evan and gave him a sheepish grin. "Sorry about that."

He returned the grin, more affected by her sleep-warmed tone than anything. "No worries."

"I should get home." Lea took a few moments to push herself to her feet. Once there, she shook her head as she watched Jessie. "I can't believe you kept her quiet."

"She's an artist," Evan said, indulging the little girl's attention by playing up her artistic abilities. "All I had to give her was paper and some crayons. Or, in this case, colored pencils."

Lea smiled at him and moved to speak to Jessie, convincing the little girl that she could return to "Uncle Evan's" house and color another time. The two ladies left, and he set about straightening the house. Jessie had colored several pictures and then insisted that they be hung on his refrigerator. He remembered seeing several such pictures on Lea's fridge. Now, he briefly considered taking them down but decided to leave them in place.

Cam and Deanna arrived about eight that evening. Deanna frowned at his haggard expression and invited herself into his house. Cam just tossed the truck keys to Evan.

"Thanks," Evan said as he caught the keys.

"No problem." Cam joined his wife on the couch. "Now. Tell us what happened."

Evan considered calling his cousin's husband "Sir" just to get a rise out of the lieutenant colonel but decided against it. Instead, he stood next to the small breakfast bar, hands on his hips as he relayed the afternoon's incident. Both Cam and Deanna glared at no one in particular, and Lorne realized the effect working at the SGC had on his cousin. While Danny knew about the Stargate Program, Deanna _lived_ it. Her husband traveled to other planets, and she often studied plant life from those planets. That awareness bred a hard edge into someone who normally lived a life of gentleness.

For the first time that day, Lorne let the anger settle into his stomach. He'd put it in the back of his mind while Lea had been present, compartmentalizing so that he could help her cope. Now that Lea had returned to her own home, he allowed himself to feel the rage and frustration that had pushed Lea into a state of complete panic. His hands began to shake, and he clenched them to still the tremors. He turned his back to Cam and Deanna, clenching his jaw to keep the angry shout inside. He wanted nothing more than to put his fist through the wall, but he also knew that it would accomplish no good. Right now, Lea and Jessie needed him to stay calm and clearheaded. He intended to do just that.

~TBC


	11. Reacting

Reacting

Lorne watched Lea as she left for work the next morning. They had shared coffee that day, but she'd been quiet. Contemplative. He hadn't interrupted her thoughts but chose to discuss those few things that she mentioned. After all, she had a lot to think about right now.

Jessie still knew nothing about what had happened the previous day. Lorne understood why Lea didn't want her to know, and he supported her fully. At times, he wondered if he'd slipped into a father's role with the little girl. Yesterday, Jessie had listened to him closely and obeyed instantly. Lorne knew it wouldn't last. Jessie merely sensed her mother's tension and chose not to aggravate it.

Lea took Jessie to work with her. Lorne watched as her car disappeared and let out a deep breath. If it was in his power, he'd accompany those two wherever they went. But he couldn't just appear and disrupt Marissa's office. His cousin's wife had worked entirely too hard to see that happen.

Shortly after Lea and Jessie left for work, a knock interrupted his contemplation of the day's plans. He answered the door, and a glare darkened his face. "Agent Bates."

"Major." Bates pushed his way into the house and whirled. "What happened yesterday?"

"Why are you asking me?" Lorne stared at the IOA agent, amazed that he had actually asked the question. "Don't you already know that?"

"I'd like to hear it from you."

"Hear what?" The anger from the previous night surfaced. "Hear that I had to calm Lea down after someone tried to kidnap her daughter? Hear that I watched Lea take her daughter to work today because she's afraid to let Jessie out of her sight? Hear that Lea has absolutely no idea what's going on? Bates, she only knows about the second break-in, not the first. In her current condition, _I'm _not going to tell her. What about you?"

Bates had the good grace to drop his head momentarily, though Lorne suspected it was to hide the forming grin. "Major, I know you care deeply for Lea and her daughter. I'm looking for an objective assessment of what happened yesterday rather than your gut feelings."

"Then keep looking." Lorne shook his head briefly and then paused. "Hey! Here's an idea. Tell Lea what's really happening. How about that?"

"I can't do that."

"Why not?"

"Because what's happening relates to a case that her husband worked, and those criminals are still at large."

"So you're telling me you'd rather put the widow of a cop who put valuable time and energy into this case in danger because you won't tell her what's really happening?" Lorne shook his head again. "She's not going to accept police protection if you don't."

"Who said anything about police protection?"

"They-whoever they are-tried to get into her house _twice_." Lorne knew he crossed into dangerous territory with his tone, but he honestly didn't care. He would probably speak this way to Woolsey or Sheppard if they appeared.. "They've also tried to kidnap her daughter. Do you honestly think they're going to stop just because they've failed three times? No. I'll tell you what they're going to do. They're going to step up their actions, and Lea's going to get hurt even worse than she already is. She _needs_ police protection, and you know it."

Bates finally dropped the IOA act and glared at him. "Just tell me what happened."

"Fine." Lorne paced to the kitchen, propping his hands on his hips. "Lea received a call from Jessie's child care center about a man who had tried to pick Jessie up using a note with Lea's forged signature. She refused permission, and the man left. Detective Michaels from the local PD has the note and is working to uncover the perpetrators."

"So Detective Michaels is on the case." Bates nodded. "Good."

"He seems like a good man." Lorne's anger faded quickly as he realized that Bates had appeared out of concern rather than bureaucracy. "Look, we can't let this continue."

"I know." Bates rubbed his eyes. "Right now, the situation is in the hands of the police. I'll call Michaels and see if I can light a fire under him. And I'll see what I can do about getting someone to tell Lea what's really happening."

"And the IOA?" Lorne asked.

"Right now, it's still a local situation." Bates shook his head. "While Lea is involved, I can only do what is necessary to protect the Stargate Program, its members, and the interests of the IOA. That includes monitoring Lea's activities, especially in light of current events. I really cannot interfere with this investigation beyond pushing Michaels to take more action. Even that will be seen as interference by some."

"Not Michaels?"

"No. He doesn't know exactly what you're into, but he knows its big." Bates shrugged. "What can I say? I'm good at my job. I was with Michaels the day he told Lea about Mark's death. We've been friends ever since."

Lorne nodded. "And Lea?"

"Right now, it's up to us to keep her and Jessie safe," Bates said. "Look, I care about those two as much as you do. Lea's like a sister to me, and Jessie's my niece. That's what I tell everyone. I'll do whatever I can do, professionally and personally, to keep them safe. I imagine you'll do the same thing?"

"Yeah, I will." Lorne straightened. "Let's just try not to scare Jessie. Seeing her mother so upset yesterday concerned her."

"How is Lea really doing?"

"Not well." Lorne shared a brief moment of silent understanding. "Thank you for stopping, Agent Bates."

"The name's Samuel." Bates stood and shook Lorne's hand. "And it was my pleasure." He left, and Lorne worked to find the calm that had characterized his career. He still wanted to hit someone but knew it would do him no good. Instead, he grabbed his sketchbook and set out for a drive around the Springs. If his path happened to pass by Lea's job, well, that couldn't be helped.

oOo

By that evening, Lea wanted to murder someone. Anyone. She really didn't care who as long as the person was somehow involved in the incident with her daughter. Jessie tried to behave, but she became more and more petulant and irritating as time passed. Unused to having the distraction, Lea worked to stay calm and explain that something came up with the child care center. She hoped to send Jessie back to the center in the next few days. Right now, however, she couldn't let her daughter out of her sight.

Why would someone try to take her daughter? That question floated through her mind at various points in the day. She didn't dwell, but the circumstances demanded an answer. And Evan didn't have them. He only had what he inferred from situations surrounding him. Was this attempt related to the break-in? How was it related? Did she unwittingly do something to put her daughter in danger? None of the questions had an answer, and Lea returned home exhausted and ready to collapse.

Evan appeared within ten minutes of her return home. He shared a smile with her and then took Jessie to another room for some "art lessons." Lea heard her daughter laughing and let out a deep sigh. Evan was good for Jessie. She needed male influences in her life, and his proximity boosted Jessie's confidence in men.

Just as Evan rose to leave, someone knocked on the door. He frowned and waited while she answered it to find Detective Michaels and Samuel waiting for her. "Gentlemen. Come in." She glanced at Evan. "Why don't you stick around?"

Evan accepted that and shook hands with both Michaels and Samuel. At her questioning look, he shrugged. "Bates and I have worked together in the past."

"Ah." She offered them drinks, which they accepted. Lea suspected that they did so out of courtesy to her. Rather than complain, she prepared glasses of iced tea and carried them back into the living room.

Jessie barreled into the room. "Uncle Sammy!"

Samuel turned with a grin, greeting the little girl as she threw herself into his arms.

Evan raised an eyebrow. "Sammy?"

Samuel glared at him. "Not a word, Lorne."

Evan shrugged. "Not the worst I've heard."

Samuel carried his drink and Jessie outside, leaving Michaels standing awkwardly in the middle of the room. Lea motioned him into her chair and settled on the couch next to Evan.

Michaels cleared his throat. "I, uh, wanted to let you know what's happening."

"Okay." Lea spoke primarily to calm her nerves. She picked at imaginary lint on her skirt, and Evan took her hand in his. She squeezed and drew comfort from the warmth and strength he offered.

Michaels set his tea aside and met her eyes. "From what we've been able to gather, the break-in and this latest attempt are related to something Mark and I worked on a few years back. I was investigating a gang-related shooting, and Mark was helping me on the scene. A shoot-out ensued, and he saved my life."

Lea nodded, refusing to dwell on the fact that she discussed her late husband while clinging to the hand of another man. "He told me about that. I remember the day well because it was right before Jessie was born." She frowned. "How does this relate?"

"Mark saved my life by killing one of the shooters who got the drop on me." Michaels let out a deep sigh. "After he died, we discovered that the gang leadership had put a hit out on him and his family. They felt that he had killed one of their own. And he did, but he did so with the full support of the police department. There was a short Internal Affairs review, but he was cleared within the month."

Lea tightened her hold on Evan's hand. "So, you're telling me that all this is in response to something my husband did four-and-a-half years ago?"

Michaels nodded. "Unfortunately." He met her eyes. "We're doing everything we can to find the perpetrators and make sure you're safe. If we need to, we'll put you in Witness Protection until we can get this sorted out. I've seen them go after people before, but this time is different. They're showing a subterfuge that's not normally in their mode of operation."

"Witness Protection?" Lea squawked.

Evan squeezed her hand briefly. "I don't think that will be necessary, Detective."

Michaels looked at Evan. "Why is that, Major? You and your Special Forces buddies going to provide protection? This is a local matter, not a military one."

"Whoa." Evan held up his hand, his face settling into an easy grin. "I wasn't trying to imply that the military would be pushing their way into the situation. I simply felt that it would be better for Lea and Jessie to be surrounded by friends rather than police officers they don't know. Besides, it would free up your officers to investigate the situation."

"I can't argue with that logic," Michaels said with a mirthless chuckle. He glanced at Lea. "You have some pretty powerful friends, then?"

For the first time since the conversation began, Lea grinned. "My boss's brother-in-law is a colonel in the U.S. Air Force. And one of Evan's friends is a lieutenant colonel."

"Ah. . .he's a colonel, now," Evan said, grinning at her bragging tone.

Lea blinked. "Sheppard was promoted?"

"Just yesterday." He shrugged. "I planned to go to the ceremony, but I received your call first."

"The ceremony was yesterday?"

"Last night, actually." His grin faded. "Hey, don't worry about it. I spoke with Sheppard, and he understood. It wasn't a mandatory thing for me to be at, and I wanted to be here, helping you with Jessie."

Michaels cleared his throat, effectively interrupting their personal conversation. "I don't mean to interrupt-Wait. I _do_ mean to interrupt." He turned to Evan. "You're willing to accept responsibility for their safety?"

"Yes, Sir."

Michaels nodded. "Good enough for me." He shrugged. "When the break-in occurred, I did some checking out of habit. You know, do a background check on the first witness to the scene to make sure the witness wasn't involved. First witness, first suspect, and all that jazz. Whatever you're into is pretty big for the roadblocks I encountered."

"Yeah, I wouldn't push against those if I were you," Evan said.

"Don't plan on it," Michaels replied. "We've already got the evidence clearing you, and I'm not an idiot. I don't take kindly to military folk commandeering my investigations because I pushed too hard on a certain button. So, for now, you're in the clear."

"Thanks," Evan said dryly.

"No charge." Michaels pushed to his feet and waited as Lea also stood. "If there's anything I can do to help, let me know."

"I will." She escorted him to the door and waved as he and Samuel left. Then, she turned to Evan. "Black ops, huh? Can't say I'm surprised. Sheppard and Ronon both struck me as the type to get antsy sitting behind a desk."

Evan let out a surprised chuckle. "If you ever see Ronon behind a desk, take a picture and then call the cops, because that's not Ronon!"

Lea grinned at him. "I'll keep that in mind." She glanced at the clock and sighed. "It's late, and we haven't eaten yet. When was the last time you visited a McDonalds?"

Evan blinked and then agreed. Lea called Jessie in from the yard and quickly helped the little girl climb into the car. Evan chose to ride with them rather than taking his truck. As she drove, he chatted with Jessie while Lea digested what she'd just been told. In truth, she wasn't hungry. But she needed to feed her daughter, and a trip to McDonalds, where she'd have a ready-made sitter in the form of an indoor play area, seemed like the way to go.

After ordering and settling at a table near the play area, Lea let her mind wander. She busied her hands with preparing Jessie's dinner, but she couldn't focus on the meal. Too many revelations had been made that evening. All this trouble had been caused by something Mark did in the line of duty, and she'd drawn comfort from another man while learning about it. She had accepted her feelings for Evan, but they still put her in pensive moods every now and then. She never expected to fall in love with anyone other than Mark. When she'd said "I do," she meant it for life. Now, she found herself falling for someone else. She knew that Mark's death released her from her vows, but she still worked to reconcile her feelings for Evan with her original promise to never marry again.

Tired of the questions, Lea drooped in her chair and let Evan see the truth. She'd reached the point where she would break if pushed any harder. And that was a scary place to be.

~TBC


	12. Denial

**Author's Note: **Contains mild spoilers for "Enemy At The Gate."

Denial

"I'm sorry, Major," Woolsey said as he shook his head. "I just can't authorize it based on what you've told me."

Lorne sat across from Atlantis's civilian leader and nodded, his face not betraying anything other than acceptance of the decision. He'd called in a favor from Cam to get the _Odyssey_, which just happened to be in orbit, to beam him directly onto Atlantis from his apartment. He'd get home the same way. Hopefully before Lea appeared. His mission a bust, he glanced briefly at Sheppard, who sat in the chair next to him.

Sheppard caught the sideways glance. "I have to agree with Mr. Woolsey." The colonel shrugged. "This is a situation for local police. If we were in Pegasus, I might allow it. But we're not. And we can't just invite anyone who needs to hide out onto the biggest secret in the ocean."

_Lea's not just anyone_, Lorne wanted to say. _She's a lady I care about, and she also happens to be vetted by the IOA._ Instead of speaking, he gave Sheppard his normal blasé expression. "Yes, Sir."

A moment later, he rose and left Woolsey's office. He considered heading toward the gym or to find Ronon but realized that his anger had no outlet. No one was at fault for Woolsey's decision. He had already prepared himself to hear that answer-or so he thought. Actually hearing it, combined with his growing feelings for Lea, rattled him in a way that few things had.

Weir would never have denied him permission to bring Lea and Jessie to Atlantis. But Weir died two years ago, and things changed. Some changes bettered Atlantis, some did not. Lorne wasn't the person to judge. The last four years, more if he counted his time with the SGC, had altered him. Hard decisions turned him into the kind of officer who returned to Earth on a suicide mission. Even his mother noticed the change. Paige Lorne had always been intuitive, reading people simply by watching them. Shortly after Atlantis relocated to the new planet to escape the Replicators, he'd seen his mother accurately read and respond to the woman stalking Cam Mitchell. When he returned home this time, she'd taken one look at him and promptly cried. Later, she said it was because she was so happy to see him. But he knew better. One doesn't see what he saw and lose those he lost without allowing it to change him.

Ironically, he wound up in Kate's old office. After her death, Earth sent another psychologist on the _Daedalus_, but that doctor had chosen an office closer to the control room. Lorne had used Kate's office as a place to hide whenever he needed time to think. Today certainly qualified.

He had never noticed anyone like he'd noticed Lea. Even Kate had been on Atlantis for years before he realized she existed as more than a pain in his behind. Like most military officers, he never wanted to see the psychologist for his yearly evaluation, but Kate had done her job in a quiet, professional manner. Her death at the hands of an energy creature that fed on fear simply cut short what he thought might be a lifelong relationship.

Now, he was glad that relationship ended. He'd always grieve for Kate. He'd cared for her deeply and wished he'd been there to hold her the night she died. But she wasn't Lea. Lorne had never considered himself the type of man to commit his life to anyone but the Air Force, but Lea made him reconsider that commitment. He knew that his feelings for her went deeper than anything he and Kate had shared. That realization alone shook him because he'd measured every other woman in his life, except his mother and sister, by Kate. Suddenly, she no longer measured up.

"Major." Sheppard's voice startled him from his thoughts. The colonel slipped into the office and looked around. "So, this is where you go to hide."

"Yes, Sir." Lorne let the man absorb the impressions. The furniture remained the same. All personal touches of Kate had been removed and sent home along with her body. All save one. Lorne had kept a snapshot of the two of them together, taken by a clueless Marine at a city-wide function. Now, he dropped into one of the chairs, ignoring the plume of dust that rose. "I needed to think."

"I understand." Sheppard sat in another chair, moving carefully to avoid being enveloped in a cloud of dust. "Look, Major, we're not trying to be difficult."

"I know that, Sir." Lorne shrugged. "I knew the answer before I came. But. . . ."

"You had to try," Sheppard said, finishing his sentence.

"Yes, Sir."

Sheppard eyed him. "Lorne, we may not be able to protect her, but we can help."

Lorne laughed. "While I appreciate the sentiment, I don't think Lea's going to appreciate Ronon trailing her everywhere she goes. Or you, for that matter."

"I wasn't thinking about that." Sheppard leaned forward, bracing his elbows on his knees. "McKay can rig up a panic button to alert you or the police if anything is wrong. Plus, if she activates it, we'll be able to track her anywhere on Earth. And Teyla can visit tomorrow or the next day, maybe teach her some new moves or something. Besides, with both of them being mothers, they should get along well."

Lorne chuckled at the mental image of Teyla and Lea sitting in her arbor, talking while Torren and Jessie played nearby. "I'm not sure I want to think about the trouble those two could get into."

"Point is," Sheppard continued, "we're here to back you up. No matter what. And we'll do whatever we can to make sure she's safe. We just can't bring her here."

Lorne eyed his CO, knowing Sheppard appreciated honesty more than just about anything. "With all due respect, Sir," he said, "it feels like too little too late."

"I know." Sheppard stood. "Just let me know if there's anything I can do in the future."

"Thank you, Sir." Lorne watched Sheppard leave the office, hating how ungrateful he sounded. He hadn't wanted to refuse anything Sheppard offered, but he also understood that a panic button would do very little good. By the time anyone from Atlantis got to Lea, the enemy would have already killed or kidnapped her. Lorne wondered idly why they wanted to kidnap Jessie, but he refused to dwell on it. Instead, he cued the radio he'd brought with him and disappeared into a flash of white light. Back in Colorado Springs, he found the snapshot of him and Kate. He smiled at it briefly and then threw it in the trash. The time for memories had ended. He had a new life now, one that included the most amazing woman to ever live.

oOo

Within a week of the kidnapping attempt, Lea was exhausted. She rose early each day, waiting for Evan to finish his run, and went to bed late. In addition to working full-time, she also took Jessie into the office with her. Marissa loved having the little girl around, but Lea felt bad. An office was no place for an active four-year-old. Most days, Jessie colored or read books, playing only when Lea took her to a park for lunch. Today, however, Jessie couldn't take anymore. She pestered her mother until Lea had to bite her tongue to keep from yelling.

She needed to take Jessie back to the child care center. Lea knew this, but she hesitated. Jessie wasn't just her daughter. She was a bit of Mark. Even though she'd moved on and had a pseudo-relationship with Evan, Jessie still represented the love that she'd shared with Mark. Lea wanted to protect that as much as possible.

Once Jessie went to bed for the evening, Lea dropped onto the couch and closed her eyes. She'd spent two days looking at a computer screen, attempting to organize the mess in Marissa's inbox. The company server had crashed, and it took three days to get it up and running again. Those three days of virtual silence meant an overabundance of mail and issues once the server came back online. Which had happened that day. Lea's eyes hurt, and she merely wanted to rest them.

She awoke three hours later, suddenly aware that something wasn't quite right in the house. Blinking grit out of her eyes, she glared at the digital clock on the stove. She hadn't even realized she'd gone to sleep. Lea frowned and looked around her darkened living room. Streetlights flooded one window, and the piano seemed ominously dark. Why was she awake and frightened?

Rather than questioning the feeling, she reached for the cell phone next to her hand. She must have fallen asleep holding it, she mused as she dialed.

A moment later, Evan's sleep-warmed voice answered. "Hello?"

"It's me," she whispered, wondering why she chose not to speak normally. "Something's wrong."

"Like what?" he asked, apparently coming awake at that statement.

"I don't know." Lea rubbed her eyes in frustration. "I was asleep one moment and awake the next. Something's wrong, but I can't figure out what it is."

"Where are you?"

"On the couch."

"I'm coming."

She set the phone aside, content that she'd done everything in her power to calm herself. It was time to figure out the reason for the worry. Lea pushed herself from the couch, moving quietly to unlock the front door. Evan would likely come in that way since she'd invited him over. She frowned at the doorknob and realized that she must have forgotten to lock it the previous evening.

Jessie stirred slightly, and Lea's frown deepened as her heart pounded. Once Jessie went to sleep, only a horrible dream woke her. As Evan slipped in the front door, Lea moved to her daughters room.

A dark form hovered over Jessie's bed, in the process of lifting the little girl. Lea's eyes widened. "Hey!"

Her sharp tone woke Jessie, and she reacted instantly. "Mommy?"

Evan appeared at her side, taking charge of the situation. "Put her down."

The form-a man- laughed. "I don't think so," he said in a heavily accented voice.

_Oh, God, not again!_ Lea thought. She froze, literally unable to move as the man backed toward the open window. She realized she must have heard the window as he climbed through it.

Jessie began to struggle, crying as she did so. "Mommy! Mommy, where are you?"

Her daughter's cries spurred Lea out of her catatonic state. She flew across the room and received a backhanded slap across the face for her efforts. Evan had disappeared. As she fell, Lea's head collided with Jessie's dresser. She tried to shake off the stars even as the intruder began to duck out of the window. Jessie's cries grew louder and more frantic, her cries turning into hiccupping sobs as she screamed at the top of her lungs. Ignoring the pain in her head, Lea pushed herself to her feet and launched herself toward the window.

The stranger froze just as he cleared the window frame. Lea heard the soft click of a gun being cocked, and then Evan's cold voice met her ears. "Give the girl to her mother now."

Jessie leaned toward Lea, and the man didn't fight her. Lea wrapped Jessie in her arms, crying almost as hard as her daughter.

Evan continued to hold the gun at the intruder's head. He stood with his feet shoulder-width apart, both hands on the weapon in a typical shooter's stance. His gaze never wavered from the intruder. "Lea, go pack a bag for both you and Jessie. Essentials only."

Lea never questioned him. She carried Jessie out of the room and into her bedroom. The unmade bed no longer mattered, nor did the chores left undone out of exhaustion. Jessie sat on Lea's bed, her breath still hitching even though she no longer cried. Lea found the suitcase under the bed and began throwing clothes into it. Moments later, she returned to Jessie's room. The window was closed, and Lea didn't bother asking questions. She packed Jessie's clothing and met Evan in the front room. He already carried a duffel bag.

"Ready?" he asked, all traces of anger gone. Instead, she saw the calm military man that hid the warmth she'd known from him.

She held Jessie as he carried their suitcases around the house. The intruder lay face-down in the yard, hands bound in zip-ties that glowed in the moonlight. Lea glanced at Evan as he hefted their suitcase into the back of his truck. "What did you do?"

"Made sure he couldn't follow us." Evan leaned his seat forward, and Jessie let him tuck her into the seatbelt with a blanket and a pillow. He glanced at Lea, and his face softened. "Don't worry. He's not dead. But he'll have one heck of a headache when he wakes up. Hopefully, by then, we'll be long gone."

"Where are we going?"

"Somewhere safe." Content that she was belted into the passenger seat, Evan climbed into the truck and turned the key. As they backed out of his small parking space, Lea realized a few things about herself. First, she trusted this man with her life. Second, she loved him. Third, she'd go anywhere just to be with him. Those realizations shook her almost as much as seeing the intruder lifting Jessie from her bed, and she stayed silent as they left Colorado Springs behind.

~TBC


	13. Rogue

Rogue

"He _what_?" Sheppard glared across Atlantis's conference table as Bates nodded once. "I didn't think he had it in him."

Woolsey reacted differently. "Where is Major Lorne now?"

"Somewhere in Kansas." Bates stood with his hands in his pockets. He'd appeared ten mintes ago, demanding a meeting with Woolsey and Sheppard's team. "We've been tracking his transmitter since this morning when he was reported missing." Teyla, Ronon, and McKay all stared in shock at the news that Lorne had virtually disappeared.

Sheppard jumped back into the conversation. "Where's he headed?"

"We have no idea."

"We?" Sheppard glared.

"You know what I mean, Colonel," Bates met his gaze and refused to back down.

Sheppard let out a deep breath. His second-in-command was the most solid man he knew. Lorne didn't go off the reservation without good cause. Most times, he simply found a way to accomplish his tasks while staying within the letter of his orders. So unlike Sheppard's seat-of-his-pants style. "Can the _Odyssey_ lock onto his transmitter?"

"They could, but our information indicates that he's driving. After all, his truck is missing."

Sheppard shook his head. "Forget it." He pulled his cell phone from his pocket and dialed a number. The irony of being on Atlantis and still carrying a cell phone with service struck him yet again as a shrill ring pierced the quiet of the briefing room.

Bates pulled his hand out of his pockets, one of them holding Lorne's cell phone. "We thought of that, Colonel." He tossed the rather nice phone on the table and produced a couple of credit cards. "We also found Lea's cell and wallet. The only thing they took with them is their ID cards and cash. Right now, they're completely off the grid."

Woolsey sighed. "Except for the major's transmitter."

"Except for that," Bates agreed. "Besides, with Lea and Jessie with him, I don't think it would be wise to just beam him out of whatever hole he tries to crawl into. I think they're the reason he's done this."

Sheppard dropped into a chair. "I should have known."

Woolsey turned to him. "Colonel?"

"When Ronon and I visited, I could tell that Lorne was taken with his landlady." Sheppard frowned. "You should have known that by the way he came asking to bring them to Atlantis."

Bates leaned forward suddenly. "Wait. Lorne asked to bring Lea and Jessie to Atlantis? When?"

"About a week ago," Sheppard answered.

"That would have been after the kidnapping attempt."

Sheppard's hackles rose again. "_Kidnapping_ attempt?"

"Someone showed up at the child care center trying to pick up Lea's daughter without her permission. Even produced a forged permission slip." Bates finally sat down and rubbed his face. "It shook both of them."

"I can imagine." Sheppard wondered what to say. He'd known that Lorne cared for Lea a lot more than he'd admitted. "Now what? I mean, if he's moving and with civilians, we can't just go in guns blazing."

Woolsey nodded once. "I agree. I think the best course of action would be to wait until Major Lorne stops moving for more than half an hour. If he's truly on the run, he's going to stay moving until he's comfortable that he's safe. Once that happens, he'll find somewhere to hole up."

Ronon, who had been silent up until now, spoke up. "Why does he still have his transmitter?" He looked around. "It's what I would do."

Sheppard turned back to Bates. "That's a good question. Especially if someone is trying to harm Lea."

"I don't think he's thought about it," Bates admitted. "The two break-ins and the kidnapping attempt-"

"_Two_ break-ins?" Sheppard asked, suddenly angry at Bates. "You need to tell us exactly what's happening with our man before I toss you out of Atlantis."

"Colonel, I understand. Lea's like my sister." He drew in a breath and let it out slowly. "Several years ago, Lea's husband worked with a detective on a gang-related shooting. During the investigation, Mark Davies killed on of the gang members, and the gang put a hit out on his family. We believe all of this is related in some way to that case. We just haven't discovered exactly why they waited as long as they have to attack. The man found tied to the swing set in Lea's back yard wasn't real forthcoming with his answers when we picked him up this morning. He appears to have been rendered unconscious by someone with military training and skills. I'd have to say he broke into Lea's house while she and Jessie were there, spooked all of them, and got his behind handed to him by Lorne. Honestly, if it were me, I'd probably do exactly what he did."

Sheppard had to admit that he would have done the same thing as well. He would have done it sooner, though. And Woolsey would have thought nothing about seeing his transponder travel halfway across the country. He wasn't known for his stable ways. Lorne, on the other hand, was rock-solid. He didn't go off the deep end without good reason.

Sheppard finally nodded. "Okay, we wait until Lorne stops. Then, we take a cloaked Jumper to his location and figure this out."

"I agree," Woolsey said. He turned to Bates. "Keep us informed."

Bates nodded. "I will."

As the meeting broke up, Sheppard left the briefing room with a scowl on his face. He scowled to hide the grin trying to break through his mask. He couldn't have been more proud of Lorne at that particular moment. Irritated that he would have to track him down, but proud that the major had finally found someone worth violating a few rules. Watching this one work out would be interesting.

oOo

Lorne drove through the night, his mind racing as he planned his next step. He'd reacted impulsively by taking Lea and Jessie from their home, but he refused to leave them in a dangerous situation. After two failed kidnapping attempts, the stakes just continued to rise.

When he'd answered the phone, he thought it was Sheppard calling him back to active duty a month early. Hearing Lea's terrified voice telling him something was wrong in the house galvanized him. Even as he checked his gun and headed for the back of the house, he planned. His mother's aunt and uncle owned a cabin in Kentucky, deep in the mountains. It was about as far from the city and gang territory as one could get and still stay in the continental United States. A creek edged the back property line, and there was plenty of room for Jessie to run and play. Seeing the attacker climb out of the back window merely confirmed his decision to take the mother and daughter out of their situation.

Lorne glanced over at Lea as the sun inched its way above the horizon. She slept the sleep of the exhausted. Her hair swirled around her face, and he smiled as the rising sun caught its honey-gold strands. That spun-gold appearance drew him to her in the first place, and he enjoyed it now. Her face seemed at peace save for a bruise he saw forming at her hairline. Lorne clenched his fist around the steering wheel. When had she sustained that wound?

Lea stirred, groaning as she tried to stretch around the seatbelt and pillow he'd provided for her. Lorne schooled his features, softening them into a smile to greet her for the day. In truth, it wasn't that difficult. She opened her eyes and blinked, looking a bit like her daughter at that moment. Lorne watched as she rubbed her eyes and took stock of her surroundings. When her eyes landed on him, he let his smile widen. "Good morning, Sunshine."

She scowled. "You stole that from Cam."

"Guilty."

"How are you?"

He glanced over and decided to be honest. "A little tired, but not bad. I'm used to being awake for days at a time."

She considered his words. "I guess you are." Her gaze moved from him to Jessie. "Did she stir at all last night?"

"Not once."

"Good." Lea fell silent, and Lorne let her think. He'd had hours to sort through his reactions to their relationship, the change this adventure would bring, and the emotions of last night's events. She'd simply sat quietly until she began nodding off. At that point, he gave her a pillow and watched as she'd drifted to sleep.

"Where are we?"

"About an hour outside of Topeka, Kansas." Lorne glanced in the rearview mirror, relieved to see that Jessie still slept. "I figure we'll stop and get some breakfast in Topeka."

Lea accepted that with a nod. She unbuckled long enough to loosen the straps, and then she settled into the seat facing him, her eyes watching her daughter. Lorne understood. She'd almost lost Jessie twice, and she didn't want to lose her again. He felt that insecurity as well. In the last month, Lea and Jessie had become more important to him than anything else. He didn't want to lose either of them.

Rather than dwelling on the possibilities, Lorne chose to ask the question that had been bothering him for the last few hours. "How are you feeling?"

Her gaze moved from Jessie to him. "The headache's pretty bad, but I'll live. I've been in worse pain before."

He accepted that with a nod. "We'll get some Tylenol when we stop."

She returned to watching Jessie, leaving him to his thoughts. Lorne drove, mindful only of the woman next to him and her sleeping daughter. He'd taken great pains to make sure they weren't followed as he left Colorado Springs, and he believed they were in the clear. If Sheppard decided to check in on him, he'd likely be in trouble. Not to mention that Lea and Jessie were with him. But Lorne didn't care. He'd finally found someone worth risking everything.

Jessie stirred just then, interrupting his thoughts as she awoke with a yawn. He smiled at Lea as she greeted her daughter for the day. Jessie stretched, leaned forward to look out the window, and announced, "I have to go potty."

Lorne laughed aloud. "In a few minutes, sweetheart."

"Okay." She sat back as they entered the outskirts of Topeka.

Lea turned to look out the front window. "Feel like you've got kids yet?"

He grinned at her. "It's different."

"That it is." She chuckled. "You learn so much about others on trips like this. Especially with kids in the car."

Lorne had to agree. But his agreement had nothing to do with simple friendship. He loved this woman. He loved her daughter. Right at that moment, there was no other place he'd rather be.

~TBC


	14. Revealed

Revealed

Late that evening, Bates reappeared on Atlantis. Sheppard left his office to greet him-or hit him. It all depended on the news that Bates delivered. Since his visit early that morning, Sheppard had wondered about the state of affairs on Atlantis. Lorne had never hinted that he'd want to step down from his position in the city. In fact, he talked as if he'd return after his two months of leave ended. But Lea's presence in the major's life changed him.

Sheppard actually grinned as he thought about Lea and Lorne together. That day that he and Ronon had visited, Lorne had watched Lea with something akin to awe on his face. The major was head-over-heels by then, and it had been fun to watch. Lea's quirky sense of humor only made that day even better.

Pulling his mind back to the present, Sheppard wiped the grin from his face. "Bates."

"Colonel." Bates shook his hand. "How are things?"

"Oh, you know. . .peachy."

Bates actually chuckled. "I can see that." He held out a tablet. "The major stopped moving. He's back in the mountains near Middlesboro, Kentucky. From what I've been able to tell, he had distant family who owned a cabin up in the mountains."

"And he's holed up somewhere beyond standard human technology." Sheppard studied the map. "Well, we have two options. We can beam in, or we can take a Jumper. I don't think you want to try to drive cross-country and risk losing him. Them," he corrected himself. "We need to think about Lea and Jessie."

Bates looked at the floor. "But there's something else."

Sheppard looked up as the man stalled. "Well, tell me already."

"Lorne may have been justified in going off the grid."

"We knew that already."

"No, you don't understand." Bates shoved his hands in his pockets. "I-We originally thought this was related to recent gang activity in the neighborhood and that hit the gang put on Lea's family. Turns out, it's a little deeper than that."

"How deep?"

"The Trust."

"Why is the Trust involved in petty gang-related activities?"

"Come on, Colonel." Bates grinned. "Even you know that Lorne is the golden boy of the SGC. What rogue organization wouldn't want to get their hands on him?"

Woolsey, who had seen Bates's arrival from his office, finally joined them. "Guerilla style warfare is not the Trust's normal MO. Why would they go after Lea when they want Lorne?"

Sheppard answered before Bates could form a response. "Cover. They used the gang's beef with Mark Davies to attack Lorne's landlady, trying to draw him out. Fortunately for us, Lorne knows how to go to ground. Unfortunately for us, the Trust can probably monitor his tracking device as well as we can."

Woolsey let out a deep breath. "I should have just let him bring her here."

"You had no way of knowing it was Trust-related." Bates included Sheppard in his words. "At the time that Lorne went off the grid, everything pointed to this gang. Only after they disappeared did we notice an increase in Trust chatter. We'd been monitoring them for a time. It seemed something big was going down in Colorado Springs. Acting on a hunch, I worked with the local police to raid a gang hide-out a few houses down from Lea. We intercepted a Trust communiqué while there."

"Great," Sheppard groaned. "And if the Trust finds them before we do, we're all screwed." He tapped the radio at his ear. "Teyla, Ronon, McKay, come in."

He received several versions of, "Go ahead."

"Get geared up. We're taking a Jumper to Kentucky."

Ronon and Teyla, not understanding the geographical reference, simply responded that they'd head to the armory.

McKay, however, had other ideas. "What? Why are we taking a Jumper to Kentucky? It's not like we can enter it into the Derby."

Even Sheppard had to grin at that image. "Just do it, McKay. We're going to bring Lorne home." He looked at Bates. "If you want to be there, I suggest you get ready."

With that, he handed the tablet to a stunned Woolsey and headed for the infirmary. Major Lorne had several things for which to answer, but Sheppard wouldn't be doing the questioning. He'd be slapping the major on the back for finally figuring out that life sometimes makes a man a little crazy.

oOo

Lea let out a deep breath as Evan pulled into a narrow drive. The house wasn't very wide, but it extended into the property quite a distance. They had stopped at lunch, allowing Jessie to play at a park while Lea made sandwiches for everyone. Evan had pushed the little girl on the swings and given Lea time to think about what she'd done. She'd left home with no notice to anyone and traveled across the country with a man she met barely a month ago. Granted, Evan lived on the same property, and they spent time together every single day. But that didn't excuse her actions.

Then, she watched Jessie laugh as Evan did an "underdog" on the swings. He laughed with Jessie and stood with his hands on his hips, guarding her while she released the pent-up energy of the long car ride. Lea shook her head. She could have stayed home, but Jessie would be in the hands of a street gang right now. Not swinging with a man she considered an uncle. Lea refused to think about what that gang would have done to her daughter. No, this was better. Being here, in unfamiliar territory, was better than leaving her daughter in danger.

After an hour, Evan had tucked Jessie back into the truck, and they left the park behind. Jessie fell asleep within two hours, and Lea had simply watched the passing scenery. They arrived in Middlesboro, Kentucky, around seven that evening, and Evan stopped at a grocery store for supplies. He allowed Jessie to help him pick out the food and trusted Lea to know the proper ingredients. Then, he drove them into the mountains, explaining that they would stay at a great-aunt's cabin. The rustic nature of the cabin appealed to Lea as she climbed from the truck. She stretched cramped muscles and reached in the bed of the pickup for their grocery sacks. Evan had already carried their suitcases to the front door.

The absolute quiet stunned Lea. She heard crickets chirping, and a stream babbled nearby. The full moon shone brightly, illuminating their path through the tall grass to the front door. Evan entered and flipped on the light, destroying the silvery effect of the moon. Lea followed him into the house, guiding Jessie around a glass counter.

Evan glanced back at them. "My great-aunt used to run the one-room general store back in the day."

Lea nodded as they entered the actual house. The large living room held an ancient TV with antennae jutting out the top like rabbit ears. Two large easy chairs graced the corners, and a couch sat between them. Evan carried their suitcase into a room with two full-sized beds. Lea quietly thanked him and carried the bags into the old kitchen.

The place certainly had a rustic charm. Lea opened cabinets, using a paper towel to wipe them out before putting the groceries away. They had also bought some plastic forks and paper plates. After getting the kitchen in order, Evan entertained Jessie in the living room while Lea cooked dinner. They ate around the coffee table, Jessie chattering about all the things she'd seen that day. Evan listened with an amused grin and cleaned the kitchen while Lea put Jessie in a bath.

Finally, the little girl settled into bed for the night. She wanted her mother close, and Lea stretched out next to her daughter until Jessie fell asleep. She wished she could sleep as easily, but the freedom from Evan's truck left her restless and energetic. She slipped out of the bed, and Jessie never noticed her absence.

Evan sat at the kitchen table, sketching something as she explored the house. It really was a nice place for an old cabin, just a little dusty and dated. Not that she minded. She doubted that the gang could find her here, and that safety net helped her relax. Rather than sitting at the table, she washed the stainless steel kettle on the stove and put water on to heat. Then, she prepared a cup of berry tea, hoping the warm tea and safety of the mountains would help her relax.

Sleeping in the truck hadn't been the best idea. Lea rolled her head to one side and then the other, trying to work out the kinks that had developed over the course of the day. Behind her, Evan moved, and she jumped slightly when he touched her shoulder. He stood behind her, gently working the knots out of her tense muscles.

Lea leaned back into the warmth of his hands, her tea forgotten as she absorbed the feelings stirred by his touch. It wasn't the first time he'd touched her. He'd held her when she fell apart the day the gang tried to take Jessie from her sitter's. He had hugged her after the break-in, when she'd panicked because of his head injury. He often touched her shoulder or held her hand simply to be close. But, tonight, something changed in her mind. Tonight, his hands seemed even warmer, and his presence so much stronger than in the past. At that moment, she realized that she no longer missed Mark. Evan had filled that spot in her heart.

Rather than speaking, Lea turned under his hands. He blinked at her sudden move but left his hands resting on her shoulders. She tried to find the words to explain, but she couldn't speak. Instead, she laid her hand on his face and stood on tiptoe to kiss him.

Evan returned the kiss briefly before pulling away. "Lea?" He studied her face, searching for something.

Lea smiled at him, not wanting to think about anything. With him so close to her, she simply wanted to enjoy his presence. Evan clearly saw whatever he wanted to see, and he kissed her again. This time, he moved beyond a simple kiss into something much more passionate.

Lea pressed herself to him as his hand crept toward her head. She'd wrapped her hair into a bun that afternoon, and he now tugged it out of its restraints. She fiddled with the buttons on his shirt, contemplating just how far she wanted this night to go, as her hair tumbled around her shoulders. She hadn't been kissed like this since Mark's death, and she struggled with desires that had long been denied. Evan wasn't Mark, and Lea was grateful for that. She loved him, and she wanted to be with him.

The back door to the house banged open, and Lea and Evan jumped apart, both of them breathing raggedly. Sheppard, Ronon, Samuel, and two others rushed through the door and spread out across the room. Evan's hand still rested on Lea's back, and she knew her face had to be bright red.

Sheppard stopped and grinned slightly. "Uh. . . . Sorry?"

~TBC

**Author's Note: **For ShaViva, here's that kiss you were talking about in your review. And for Shadows-of-Realm, Atlantis has arrived! Thanks for all the reviews, everyone. You've really made me enjoy the story more than I already did! ~lg


	15. Reality

Revealed

Evan straightened at the sight of his CO, but he kept his hand on Lea's back. Sheppard, Samuel, and Ronon all grinned at her while the other two people, a man and a woman, tried not to stare. Lea worked to control her features, wishing she could wipe the blush from her face just as easily. Or respond like Evan. His features settled into a bland mask as he stared at Sheppard.

"Mommy!" The panicked call echoed through the house. Jessie's voice broke, and she sounded scared. "Mommy!" Lea noticed the different reactions even as she moved to find her daughter. Samuel and Evan tensed. Sheppard frowned. Ronon whirled, ready to fight. The other man looked confused. And the woman glanced between Lea and Evan, a slight grin on her face.

Lea excused herself and found Jessie standing in the doorway of the bedroom, almost in tears. "Hey, darlin,' I'm right here."

"I know." Jessie rubbed her eyes. "I woke up and you weren't there."

"I'm sorry." Lea picked up her daughter, who curled into her shoulder immediately. "Remember Mr. John and Mr. Ronon? They're here."

Jessie didn't respond, but Lea carried her back to the kitchen anyway. The little girl stirred when she saw Samuel, but she reached for Evan. Lea smiled as she handed her daughter to him, wishing she'd taken a few minutes to get control over her tousled hair. There was no need to advertise her make-out session with Evan to everyone else.

While Evan held Jessie, Sheppard began the introductions. Lea shook hands with Dr. Rodney McKay and Teyla Emmagan. While Dr. McKay seemed awkwardly embarrassed, Teyla relaxed immediately. Lea invited everyone into the living room to sit while they sorted out the entire mess. She suspected that Sheppard was more amused than irritated, and Samuel's glare at Evan had more to do with Jessie's actions than Evan's presence. The little girl immediately drifted back to sleep.

Sheppard spoke as he holstered his strange weapon in his leg holster. "I've been a bad influence on you, haven't I?"

Evan glanced up from where he adjusted Jessie on his shoulder. "Yes, Sir."

"Thought so." Sheppard grinned. "Never thought I'd see this side of you, either."

Evan returned the grin. "No, Sir, neither did I."

Lea allowed the newcomers to take the chairs and remained behind in the kitchen long enough to tame her hair. She normally kept it smooth and sedate, but the long truck ride had destroyed that image-as had Evan's hands. When she finally had it in a semblance of a ponytail, she returned to the living room.

Sheppard was speaking. "So, we're going to take the three of you back and sort this out."

"Sort what out?" Lea asked.

Evan glanced at Sheppard and received a nod in response. "It seems that the gang wasn't acting alone. They had backing from an international organization called the Trust."

Lea blinked as the implications hit her. "You mean we're being chased by international terrorists?"

"No." Evan shook his head. "_I'm_ being chased by international terrorists."

"Why?" Lea struggled to pull her emotions together and form a coherent sentence that accurately expressed the emotions and questions in her mind. "What does my daughter have to do with you? I mean, if this Trust is after Evan, why are they coming after me and Jessie? What do they want with us?"

"Nothing." Sheppard braced his elbows on his knees. "They want Lorne, but the only way to get to him is to isolate him. So they went after you and your daughter, trying to lure him out and make him do something foolish. Instead, he went to ground."

Lea considered that for a moment. "I guess that makes sense."

Samuel finally entered the conversation. "No matter how deeply you guys may want to explain this, we need to move." He turned to Evan. "Major, we tracked you using your subcutaneous transmitter. It's likely the Trust can also track you. We need to get you-all of you-out of here."

Evan gave Lea a nod. She moved through the room, not saying anything as Evan directed Sheppard to the duffel bag still packed and resting beside the couch. Lea quickly packed the few things she'd scattered while preparing Jessie for bed. Within minutes, she found herself herded out the back door and into the empty yard. Sheppard pulled something resembling a car's electronic entry fob from his pocket and pushed the button. A cylindrical. . .thing. . .with light pouring out of the back hatch appeared from nowhere. Sheppard, Ronon, Teyla, and McKay walked in without blinking an eye. Samuel also ducked inside after touching Lea's shoulder reassuringly. Evan paused, still holding a sleeping Jessie. "It's perfectly safe."

"What is it?"

"Ah. . . .a space ship." His face twisted into a wry, amused expression.

"A _what_?"

"Look, I'll explain later. Right now, we need to go."

"Right." Lea carried her bags aboard and stared. The "space ship" had a pilot's compartment and a crew compartment. She stood awkwardly in the middle of the cylinder, trying to absorb the strange design and controls that lit up the moment Sheppard sat in his seat.

Teyla waved her forward. "I believe you will wish to see this."

Lea wasn't so sure, but she joined the woman anyway. Sheppard took hold of the controls, and Lea watched the ground fall away with the sickening realization that she didn't feel any movement. The trees began to speed past, and she blinked. "Why aren't we feeling anything?"

McKay turned. "Oh, that's because of the intertial dampeners. It's incredibly complicated, but-"

"You're kidding me," Lea interrupted. "I thought that was science fiction."

"Yeah, well, it's not." McKay sounded perturbed with her. He turned back to his instruments.

Lea stood in the doorway between compartments, staring at the trees and cities flashing beneath her. This wasn't happening! This wasn't real! She turned to look at Evan, and he met her eyes with a sober expression. That, alone, convinced her that she hadn't gone stark raving mad.

"Wait." She held up her hand when she turned around to see ocean. "Where are we?"

"Over San Francisco Bay," Sheppard answered.

"So quickly?"

McKay glanced at her again. "Yes. We're moving at sublight speeds. It beats anything Earth offers in the way of cars."

Behind Lea, Evan snorted. "Took me forever to get used to driving at a speed limit again."

She whirled. "You can fly one of these?"

"Ah. . .yeah."

Lea turned back to the ocean. "There's a lot I don't know about."

A few minutes later, Sheppard keyed a control and spoke, "Atlantis base, this is Sheppard. We are on approach."

"Acknowledged." The man on the other end of the radio paused momentarily. "How are your passengers?"

Sheppard glanced back. "Major Lorne is fine. Lea's a little freaked out. And her daughter is asleep."

"I see. Well, I'll meet you in the Jumper bay."

Sheppard shook his head, and Lea stared when a door opened from nowhere. Below them, the ocean rippled and moved. Sheppard expertly lowered the Jumper through the door and set it down on the floor of a bay holding several more ships of the same design. The back hatch opened, and Samuel motioned for Lea to exit. She stepped out, staring in amazement at the appearance of a structure over the ocean that had been hidden from view. A balding man in a strange red-and-gray uniform stood with several security guards.

Evan stepped close to Lea, still holding Jessie. "Mr. Woolsey."

"Major." Woolsey turned to Lea. "Allow me to introduce myself. I am Richard Woolsey. Welcome to Atlantis."

oOo

Hours later, Lea still had not slept. She stood on a balcony of Atlantis-the actual lost city of Atlantis!-and watched the sun rise over the Golden Gate Bridge. With a start, she recognized the angle. This must be where Evan had painted his massive landscape. She shook her head. Part of her wanted to strangle him for not telling her exactly what he did for a living. The other part wanted to simply hug him.

Her first hours on Atlantis passed in something of a blur. She'd been ushered to a set of lavish rooms, complete with stained glass, a balcony, and tempurpedic beds. Jessie still slept in one as Teyla watched over her. That woman had gladly volunteered to give Lea some time to absorb her first impressions of the "City of the Ancestors." Evan had delivered Lea and Jessie to their quarters and kissed her softly before leaving them alone. He had meetings, he said. Lea knew better. Evan had basically disappeared. In the military, that was a massive no-no.

Now, she watched the sunrise and felt the breeze blowing through her hair. While Sheppard and Woolsey debriefed Evan, Samuel gave her a tour of the city and explained the Atlantis Expedition. For the last four years, Evan had lived in a completely different galaxy, traveling through something called a Stargate and exploring "strange new worlds." Lea's head spun at the enormity of what he actually did for a living. When she finally found time to think, she couldn't decide what to think about first.

Atlantis wasn't a myth. It wasn't a city that mysteriously sank to the bottom of the ocean. It was a space ship that flew away-then it sank to the bottom of the ocean. Lea drew in the salty ocean air, working to calm the nerves that had been frayed by the night's experiences. She'd just learned that, while she knew Major Evan Lorne, she'd never known what he truly did. This was bigger than even Mark's job.

The Trust was after him. That realization made her heart pound as she considered all the ramifications. This international terrorist organization run by aliens had used her daughter to get to Evan. As Samuel spent several of the early morning hours explaining it to her, she'd wanted to find Evan and clobber him for bringing that danger into her home. She'd spent several minutes ranting at Samuel about that very thing. Samuel patiently listened and reminded her that Evan couldn't have known the Trust's objectives. He'd simply returned from the Pegasus galaxy in the line of duty, without ever knowing that the Trust had noticed him.

"Hey." Evan's voice pulled her out of her thoughts.

She turned, seeing him standing just outside the door. "Hi."

He joined her at the railing. "Ah. . .sorry for not telling you."

Lea turned back to the Golden Gate Bridge. "I think I understand." She frowned. "I mean, I'm sufficiently freaked out, and I need a lot of time to even fully grasp what all this means, but I understand why you couldn't tell me. Even if it wasn't for the classified nature of the job, no one would believe you. _I_ wouldn't have believed you if I hadn't seen it with my own eyes. Just be grateful you were in meetings all night. I wanted to find you and pound you into the ground for bringing this onto my daughter's head."

"What changed?"

"Samuel talked me out of it." She let out a deep breath. "I can't say that I'm totally okay with this, but I do honestly understand why you didn't tell us. I mean, if I went to work today and told Marissa that I'd just flown in a space-capable shuttle to a cloaked city-slash-space ship parked in the Pacific Ocean, she'd call the nearest mental institution to carry me off to the funny farm."

He nodded once. "Not a good idea."

"No."

They fell silent for a few moments, and Lea hated the distance between them. By returning to Atlantis, he'd returned to duty. Lea knew the Trust's involvement with their lives spelled certain change for all three of them. Her only consolation about her daughter's presence on a military base came from Teyla and her young son, Torren. At least one mother found a way to handle the pressures of every day life along with the dangers Atlantis presented.

Evan motioned toward the Golden Gate Bridge. "You asked about that painting."

"I figured it out." She grinned wryly. "You know, this is going to take some getting used to."

"Yeah." He faced her. "Look, with the news that the Trust is after me, you and Jessie are probably going to have to stay here for a while."

Lea glanced at him. "I know."

"You're okay with that?"

"Not really, but I don't have a choice." She shrugged. "My daughter won't be safe if we return home, and I'm not sure I can stand being that far away from you." She immediately tried to swallow her tongue for saying that.

Evan let a slow grin spread across his face. "Thank you-I think."

She decided to just bare her heart to him rather than backtracking. "You should know that I'm head over heels about you. It took a little bit, but having you so close all the time really helped." She paused as an inscrutable mask descended on his face. "And I'm really sorry if I just made you uncomfortable or feel like you want to run."

He whirled and took her face in his hands. "Never." And then he kissed her again. This time, he never allowed the emotions to fly out of control. This time, he wrapped her in his arms, giving her a safe place to cope with the flurry of emotions that still whipped through her. This time, he left her completely unable to think.

When he pulled back, he rested his forehead on hers. "You should know that I'm head-over-heels about you, too."

Lea snuggled into his chest and smiled. Somehow, in all the confusion of the last few weeks, she'd found the one man who could take all her emotions and sort them out with a few well-said words. Content for the first time in years, Lea closed her eyes and allowed Evan's nearness to soothe the loneliness and fear in her soul.

~TBC


	16. Taken

**Author's Note: **Mild spoilers for "Sunday" and "Doppelganger." Anyone figure out that's one of my favorite episodes, yet? ~lg

Taken

The next morning, Lorne found Lea on "his" balcony. He'd painted on this balcony the day Carson died. He'd come to this balcony the day Kate died. Now, he smiled. This balcony had been a place of refuge for him-somewhere he could allow the emotions to show without worrying about who saw him. Lea stood against the railing, her hair lifting from her shoulders in the sea-scented breeze while she stared at the Lantean architecture.

Lorne stayed silent for a moment, watching this woman who had become so important to him. In the last few days, he'd realized how deep his feelings went. Yesterday, he escorted her back to her quarters after their sizzling kisses, knowing she'd rest and he could get some work done. He spent the day with Sheppard and Bates, going over every shred of evidence the IOA had compiled on the gang. Woolsey didn't know what to do with him, but Sheppard merely smirked. Lorne understood. He hadn't exactly gone AWOL, but he hadn't acted in the manner befitting a military officer, either. He hoped he would never be put in Sheppard's position. Right then, with Lea close and knowing about Atlantis, he'd probably congratulate the soldier under his command.

Deciding he couldn't put off the inevitable any longer, Lorne stepped forward and cleared his throat. Lea turned, her eyes green and sparkling in the sunlight. "It's beautiful."

"You're beautiful," he replied. He'd wanted to tell her for a long time and now enjoyed the blush that covered her face.

Her eyes swept his appearance. "This is different."

He glanced down at the gray and black uniform and sidearm he carried at all times. "Hey, you know how it is. You go back to work, and they force you back into the uniform."

"Yeah, but you love it." Lea grinned. "What did they say about the other day?"

" 'We understand, but don't do it again.'" Lorne returned the grin. "Where's Jessie?"

"With Dr. Keller. She offered to watch Jessie while I met with Mr. Woolsey to sign non-disclosure paperwork. Then, I decided to explore a little more." Lea turned back to her view of the city. "It's beautiful," she said again.

He couldn't argue with her. He joined her at the railing and struggled to find the words he needed. When he and Kate had dated, they both knew the dangers of his job. He simply told her he had a mission, and Kate waved him off with an admonition to stay safe. With Lea, he couldn't let go that easily. He actually worried about how she'd do in the city without him. That, combined with the feelings he'd finally admitted to himself, made it difficult to break the silence. "Listen, there's a mission today."

She turned slowly. "And you're on it."

"Yeah." He touched her face briefly before letting his fingers slide through her hair. "It's actually related to you. Bates thinks he found the headquarters for that gang, and we're going to try to find out how deeply the Trust is involved with them."

He watched the impact of the news hit her. She blinked and drew in a deep breath, working to cover the immediate fear that crossed her face. After a moment, she put her hand on his chest. "Stay safe. Come home." She left the _to me_ unsaid.

Knowing how much those words had cost her, he smiled. "I'll do my best."

"That's all I ask."

He sensed her moving away and couldn't let it go that easily. Not after the last few days. Rather than just walking away, he leaned in and kissed her. She responded immediately, and he took her in his arms, determined that he'd find a way to make their relationship work. Atlantis, Pegasus, the Wraith, the Goa'uld, the IOA, the SGC, the NID, the Trust, alien life. . .none of those would destroy what he shared with this woman.

Lorne pulled away, ending the kiss before he lost all ability to think coherently. Even then, he struggled to breathe properly. "I'll see you later."

oOo

Lea watched him as he left the balcony. She'd wanted to panic the moment he told her that he had a mission. After all, she'd just found out that aliens existed and that he visited other worlds. But Evan was a military officer-a leader. He couldn't just sit around and let others do the work for him. That code of ethics and devotion to duty defined him. Lea knew Evan suited her. She just wondered if she suited his job.

"Earth to Lea." The playful voice brought her out of her thoughts, and she blinked at Deanna Mitchell.

"What are you doing here?"

Deanna grinned. "Good to see you, too."

Lea blinked and shook her head. "I'm sorry. But, really, why are you here, of all places?" She hated how rude it sounded, but she still struggled to absorb everything around her.

Deanna kept grinning. "I kinda work for the SGC."

"I thought you-Never mind." Lea leaned her back against the railing, not wanting to let the woman see exactly how scattered she really was. "Cam?"

"Leader of SG-1."

"Which one is that, again?"

"Earth's frontline team. Kinda the SGC version of Sheppard's team." Deanna eyed her. "How are you doing?"

"Worried." Lea shrugged. "I mean, I was married to a cop. I understand the idea of living with danger at any given moment. But Mark was a beat cop who occasionally helped with investigations. Evan goes to _other planets_ and fights _aliens_. It's a lot to take in."

"Imagine my shock when I was kidnapped by one of said aliens before Cam could tell me the truth." Deanna grinned ruefully.

Lea turned suddenly. "The accident?"

"Set up by the Lucian Alliance, the galactic version of the mafia." Deanna shrugged. "They actually wanted Cam and his team, but they settled for just me and Cam. Then, Kefflin, the Lucian Alliance leader, gave me to his bounty hunter as a prize." She paused for a moment. "We almost didn't get out alive."

Lea allowed the other woman her thoughts as she considered the implications of staying on Atlantis. She loved Evan, and she didn't want to leave him. But she had Jessie to consider, something neither Evan nor Deanna had. Jessie was her responsibility, and she wondered if she should stay on Atlantis with the inherent danger that the city posed. She sighed. If she left the city, she'd be in as much danger. Just knowing about it made them suspect. And Jessie wasn't old enough to truly understand the word "classified."

Lea pushed away from the railing. "I probably need to go find Jessie."

"I'll walk with you." Deanna grinned. "We can get lost together."

"Sounds good." Lea fell into step with the other woman as her mind returned to her thoughts before Evan interrupted. "You know, I was thinking about something."

Deanna glanced over with a questioning expression.

"The whole Miss, Ms, Mrs thing." Lea shrugged. "I always had a problem with the Ms. title. I mean, I know whether I'm married or not. I always wanted to be known as Miss or Mrs. Now, I'm not so sure." She waved a hand. "I was married, so I'm not a Miss. But, my husband is dead, so I'm no longer a Mrs. With Evan around, it gets interesting to have people introduce me as Mrs. Davies. Everyone looks at Evan like he's messing around with a married woman."

Deanna nodded. "I think I understand. But I hope I never have to understand the way you do."

"I hope you don't, either." Lea dropped the subject as they finally reached the infirmary. Jessie sat on one of the beds, listening through a stethoscope as Dr. Keller pressed it to her chest.

Jessie's eyes lit up when she was Lea. "Mommy! I can hear my heart beating!"

"I know." Lea grinned at Keller. "Thank you."

"No problem." The young doctor draped the stethoscope around her neck. "You have a wonderful daughter."

Jessie leaned forward to see around Lea. "Where's Uncle Evan?"

"Uncle Evan had to go to work." Lea picked up her daughter and hugged her. "He should be home later this evening."

"Okay." Jessie waved at Keller. " 'Bye."

Keller laughed and waved as Lea carried her daughter from the infirmary. They spent the day with Deanna, exploring the city and learning more about alien life from Dr. Radek Zelenka. By the time Jessie collapsed for her afternoon nap, Lea wanted to simply be alone. There was so much here to absorb, so much to understand. She wondered if she'd ever truly grasp it all.

oOo

Lorne let out a deep breath as the last gang member dropped to the ground, the victim of a well-placed zat blast from Teal'c. Unfortunately, the gang members hadn't used stun weapons. Most of them packed small semi-automatics capable of killing a man. Lorne had narrowly escaped a bullet when he ducked at the right moment. He whispered a prayer to Lea's God for saving his life. He would really hate to break his promise to her.

Daniel and McKay rushed forward, each one going for different things in the headquarters. McKay found the computer and instantly began complaining about how the idiots knew nothing about computer maintenance. Daniel pulled open a file cabinet and whistled. Lorne watched the two, amused that they could work in the same room. Daniel preferred dusty books and paper to McKay's technology. Yet, when put on the same project, the two goaded each other into brilliant work.

Sheppard and Cam spoke simultaneously, and Lorne obeyed their orders. After all, they had each given the order to spread out and secure the premises. Lorne idly thought that having those two on the same team could get dangerous. Sheppard and Cam were too similar. He walked slowly toward the back of the house they'd invaded, noting the unconscious forms of gang members wearing wife-beater shirts and thick gold chains. Stackhouse moved from body to body, binding each one in preparation for the arrival of the local police liaison. As he passed back into the main area of the house, the body at his feet stirred. One hand grabbed his ankle while the other pressed a button on a device hidden until now. Lorne moved to kick the guy's hand away, but the world shifted.

He looked up. The house and his team members no longer surrounded him. Instead, the guy at his feet grinned, his eyes glowing briefly, as two more men aimed zats at him. Lorne barely got his hand around the zat in his leg holster before the world faded in a flash of blue pain.

He had no idea how long he stayed out. After being stunned multiple times with a Wraith stunner, he knew his limits. But zats were different, more powerful in a way. They could overload a person's nervous system so badly that the person died. Lorne shook his head, trying to clear his vision and stop the pounding headache. Instead, a metallic clink caused him to blink. He moved and realized that he'd been stripped of everything save his pants and the shirt he wore under his TAC vest and uniform jacket. His hands were shackled behind him, a metal bar keeping him from moving.

"Welcome back, Major." The woman's voice echoed unnaturally.

Lorne stared, amazed at how such a pretty woman could look so evil. "Who are you?"

"I could give you my human name, but it would be a lie." She sauntered around him, studying him. "The only thing you need to know about me is that I will soon be your master. And you will do everything in your power to please me."

He laughed slightly. "Not likely."

She smirked even as she reached toward him. "Oh, I think you will." Her smirk turned into a sadistic grin as he jerked away from the sudden pain in his temple. "This will all be over soon, and you will gladly serve me."

Lorne blinked, feeling the small round disc she'd attached to his temple. He'd read enough reports to know what had happened. He recognized a Goa'uld brainwashing device, and he knew better than to boast that he'd never turn. He hadn't had as many confrontations with Wraith queens as Sheppard had.

The woman smiled at him again, her four-inch stilettos clicking on the floor of his Goa'uld prison. "Now. Shall we begin?" She pressed a button on the remote.

Lorne ground his teeth at the pain that ripped through his body, working with everything in him to keep from screaming. It wouldn't help anyway. The Trust had found him, and he could only hope that his transmitter still worked wherever they had taken him.

oOo

Sheppard stared as Lorne disappeared in a flash of white light. The man grasping his ankle also vanished. Sheppard whirled. "Mitchell, Ronon! Secure the area! Check all prisoners to confirm that they're still alive and still human."

Ronon and Cam moved immediately, as did Lorne's team. Sheppard let the men work while he considered the implications. He whirled around, pinning Bates in place with one look. "The Trust wasn't funding this gang. They _infiltrated_ this gang. Did you know?"

"No." Bates met his eyes with a slightly panicked expression. "Trust me, Colonel. If I had known, we would have taken more precautions."

"Trust you?" Sheppard's eyebrows rose. "Every time we talk to you, something else bigger, badder, and more dangerous is discovered."

Bates glared but didn't respond. It didn't matter, anyway. Sheppard already knew that they would take all these men to the SGC. Now that they'd discovered the depth of the Trust's influence, these prisoners no longer fell under local jurisdiction. Homeworld security now applied.

Another thought hit Sheppard, and he nearly pounded his fist through the nearest wall. He had to tell Lea. The woman had already lost her husband, and he now had to tell her that Lorne had been captured. She'd been through enough that this news would devastate her. The knowledge that Lorne had merely been captured and not killed wouldn't comfort her. And what about Jessie? Although the little girl still wasn't sure of him, John knew Lorne loved her like his own daughter. Jessie would likely ask for Lorne, and Sheppard wasn't sure how to answer her. He silently watched McKay and Daniel work, inwardly begging him to take as long as possible. He needed to figure out what to say to Lea when they returned to Atlantis without the man she loved.

~TBC


	17. M I A

M. I. A.

Sheppard landed the Puddle Jumper fully expecting to see Lea waiting for them. She wasn't, however, and he breathed a sigh of relief. He had a few more minutes before facing her. Sheppard walked toward the infirmary with Cam hot on his heels, considering the task ahead of him. Lorne wasn't just the man Lea loved. He was also Cam's cousin by marriage. Sheppard watched the stony-faced colonel sit on a hospital bed and allow Keller to treat his minor injuries.

Lea arrived before a nurse could get to Sheppard. He stood as she came through the door, eager expression on her face. He understood. This mission concerned her and her daughter. She wanted to know how it went. Seeing Lorne was only a small part of it. _Yeah, right, John,_ he thought. _Keep telling yourself that._

Lea turned to him, confused when she didn't see Lorne. "Colonel?"

Sheppard pushed off the bed and waved Keller away. "I'll be right back." He took Lea's elbow. "Let's step outside."

In the corridor, Lea faced him. "What happened?"

He heard the wobble in her voice and knew she already expected the worse. "He's not dead." Sheppard refused to consider that possibility. "He's just missing."

"Just missing?" Her voice rose in agitation. "How is that possible? You were going into a gang's headquarters. The only way Evan doesn't come home is if he's dead!"

"Look, we underestimated a few things." Sheppard let out a deep breath. "We managed to stun them, but we had no idea the Trust had actually infiltrated the gang. One of them resisted the effects of the zat guns long enough to tag Lorne with a transmitter. He was beamed out right in front of us."

"Beamed out?" She glared. "As in, 'Beam me up, Scotty' beamed out?"

"Yeah."

"So, where is he?" She did an admirable job of hanging onto her emotions. "I mean, if he's got this subcutaneous transmitter implanted in his arm, then why haven't you gone to find him?"

"It's not that easy."

"It's not? Because it seemed that easy when you guys came and found us."

"We knew what we were looking for, then."

"And you don't now?"

"He's not on Earth anymore!" Sheppard immediately regretted allowing her emotions to goad him into snapping at her. She wasn't trying to be difficult. She'd barely learned of the existence of the Stargate Program two days ago, and she needed to cope. He hadn't expected her anger, however.

As soon as he snapped at her, Lea's face crumbled. Sheppard couldn't tell if his anger or Lorne's absence from Earth caused it. She drew in a ragged breath. "Then where is he?" she asked, ending the question with a whimper.

He softened. "We don't know."

She stared, her hands coming up to cover her mouth. "Oh, God, not again!" She closed her eyes but seemed unable to stop the intense, body-shaking sobs that escaped. Sheppard grabbed her elbows to keep her upright and pulled her into his arms. He could do nothing less. This woman had already lost her husband to the job. From the time he'd spent with her, Sheppard knew she loved Lorne with everything inside of her. Now, from her point of view, she'd lost him, as well.

Keller finished the post-mission checkups, and Mitchell finally reappeared. Rodney, Teyla, and Ronon stepped out of the infirmary a moment later, joining Mitchell in the supportive, sympathetic circle. Sheppard knew Teyla and Ronon could empathized with Lea, but he didn't think right now would be the time to tell her. Instead, each one touched her shoulder and eventually went their own ways.

Sheppard stayed rooted to the spot, holding Lea until she had nothing left inside. Once she finished soaking the front of his shirt, she pushed away from him and walked away without another word. Sheppard watched her go, the post-mission physical and his soggy shirt front the least of his concerns.

oOo

Lea wandered the halls of Atlantis aimlessly. When she'd first come here, she'd been fascinated by this City of the Ancients, as it had been repeatedly called. Now, she hated the alien beauty and colored walls. They represented Evan's domain. And he was gone.

People passed her as she walked, likely staring at the vacant, tearstained expression on her face. Lea didn't care. She'd loved twice and lost twice. That did things to a woman. She began wondering if she needed to find a secluded cabin in which to raise her daughter. Every time she fell in love, the man either died or got captured by aliens.

"Lea?" The voice sounded distant, but someone suddenly appeared next to her. "Lea!"

She startled, turning toward her name. Cam stood in front of her, concern covering his face. "Let's get you home."

"No!" She panicked. "I can't! Jessie will ask for him, and I'll lose it again." _Just like I'm losing it right now_, she thought. She looked away from Cam's sympathetic expression and wrestled her emotions back under control.

Cam nodded and gently steered her down a corridor and toward a set of stairs. Lea walked willingly, still remembering that morning. When he'd left, Evan kissed her soundly. It was something, at least. Her last kiss from Mark had been nothing more than a quick peck as he walked out the door. With Evan, she'd struggled to breathe for fifteen minutes after he left. She could remember that, at least.

At least. She thought those words a lot. When had she begun to believe that Evan was dead? Sheppard said he'd been captured, not that he'd died. That meant there was hope for his recovery. She turned to Cam. "You're going to keep looking for him, right?"

Cam gave her an understanding glance. "We don't leave people behind."

Lea nodded, pulling air into her lungs to calm her emotions. "I suppose I could tell Jessie that Evan had to go away for work. That he'll be home soon."

Cam touched her shoulder. "I'll be there when you do."

She drew in a few more deep breaths and let them out slowly. She wasn't ready to face this again. But she could do it. She'd survived it once before. She could make it again. As they left the quiet nook in the corridor, Lea determined that, once she healed from this shock, she'd never allow herself to fall in love again.

oOo

Three days later, Lea stood on a balcony and stared at the Golden Gate Bridge. The last time she'd been here, she'd ignored the scenery in favor of kissing Evan. Now, she stared at the scenery, remembering him. He clearly loved San Francisco, and that made her miss him even more. It had been three days. Three days without his comforting presence. Three days of futile searching. Three days without a clue regarding his location. Even now, Sheppard and his team were off-world, as they termed it, frantically following any lead they could find.

Cam and Deanna took up temporary residence on Atlantis. General Landry, the leader of the SGC, had devoted the entirety of SG-1 to locating and recovering Major Lorne. That included recalling Colonel Carter, who commanded one of Earth's top secret space ships, and Teal'c, an alien they encountered over ten years ago. Lea appreciated the Mitchells' presence. They helped her cope with Evan's absence simply by being around. Deanna spent a lot of time with Atlantis's botany department, but she also spent time with Jessie. And Cam made sure that Jessie had a human jungle gym to climb.

The little girl wasn't happy with Evan's absence. She constantly talked about what she wanted to do when Uncle Evan came home, and she'd already covered their guest quarters with pictures just for him. Lea often smiled sadly at her daughter's enthusiastic attitude. At nearly five years old, Jessie couldn't understand the idea of Evan's capture.

"May I join you, or would you rather be alone?"

Lea turned, startled, and met the eyes of Teyla. She smiled at the other woman and waved her over to the railing. "I'd rather not be alone. I think too much when I'm alone."

"I understand." Teyla leaned against the railing, the sun catching the highlights in her hair. "How are you finding Atlantis?"

Lea decided to be brutally honest. "Lonely."

"I have also found Atlantis lonely at times."

"Really?"

"Two years ago, just as I discovered that I was with child, my people were taken by a creature we knew as Michael." Teyla's gaze never left the Golden Gate Bridge. "I could not help but think that my child would be the last of his people-that the Athosians had been exterminated."

"What happened?"

"We found them and freed them." Teyla turned to face Lea. "Just as we will find and free Major Lorne."

Lea smiled at the sympathy and assurance. "I want to believe that. I really do." She shook her head. "But I've already lost one husband. I don't think I can lose Evan."

Teyla gave her an enigmatic smile. "Do you not believe in the Ancestors?"

Lea thought for a moment, searching her overloaded brain for the reference. "I believe in God."

"Then, should you not pray to this God?"

"I said I believe _in_ Him." Lea glanced at Teyla. "I didn't say I believed Him. Two very different things, right now."

"And this God is not one of the Ancestors?" Teyla's curiosity allowed her to be sidetracked momentarily. "The Ancestors gave us life."

Lea let a tiny smile escape. "Who gave life to the Ancestors? Who governs them? Who is greater than they are?"

Teyla considered this for a moment. "Perhaps you're right." She laid both hands on the railing. "However, should you not consider petitioning this God for His help? If He is greater than the Ancestors, then He should be able to assist you."

"I wish I could," Lea whispered. "Honestly, I'm not even sure I want to ask Him for help. Maybe I'm being foolish. Or maybe I'm just emotional. But I asked Him for help the day Mark died, and Mark still died. I don't want to risk asking Him for help and losing Evan, too."

Teyla accepted the answer and turned to gaze at the Golden Gate Bridge. Lea appreciated the silence and the woman's gentle presence. She'd not thought about God at all in the last weeks. He didn't seem to be involved in her life any longer. But could she turn her back on Him? Just because she found herself in a crisis of faith, could she deny God? She didn't know the answer to that question, and she refused to think about it until Evan had been found. With that ultimatum in place, she excused herself and left Teyla to her thoughts.

oOo

Sheppard stared at Woolsey, anger rising as he tried to control it. In the two weeks since Lorne had gone missing, Woolsey never once pushed him toward this step. Now, with the futile search drawing to a close, the man wanted Sheppard to officially declare Lorne MIA! "You _do_ realize what you're asking?"

"I'm sorry, Colonel." Woolsey stood behind his desk, trying to affect a sympathetic expression while holding a pile of paperwork. "But General Landry needs the paperwork. We cannot continue to devote the full resources of two military bases to finding one man."

"I'm not asking for you to devote the full resources of two military bases," Sheppard said, struggling to keep his voice down. "I'm asking you to not give up until we find him."

"I'm not giving up." Woolsey dropped the paperwork in his hand. "In fact, Colonel Mitchell and his wife will remain here, as will the rest of SG-1. Their task is to work with you and your team on investigating Major Lorne's disappearance."

"Then why fill out the paperwork?"

"You know the IOA."

"Weren't _you_ part of the IOA?"

"That was before I went to Pegasus." Woolsey finally dropped into his chair. "I'm sorry, Colonel. Really, I am. But General Landry and I have our orders. Those orders are to lock Major Lorne's IDC out of the computer and file MIA paperwork on him. The investigation is to continue due to Trust involvement."

"Never mind that a devoted military officer might lose his life." Sheppard tired of trying to hide his feelings. "Major Lorne has never, in all the years I've known him, given up on me."

"And we're not giving up on him."

"Aren't we?"

"Colonel." Woolsey's exasperated sigh told him he'd pushed to the limit. "File the paperwork."

Sheppard rose from the chair but couldn't resist adding one last needling comment. "When we find him, I get to say 'I told you so.'"

Woolsey didn't even reply, leaving Sheppard to head to his office. He'd been back on Atlantis long enough to get through his post-mission physical and stop into Woolsey's office. Part of him wished he'd never come home. Major Lorne had always bailed him out of his tight spots. Now, he felt as if he'd turned his back on his most loyal officer.

In his office, Sheppard sat behind the desk and stared at the MIA paperwork. He really shouldn't do this. But Woolsey was right, much as he hated to admit it. After two weeks, Lorne had been in enemy hands for too long. Sheppard let out a deep breath and began writing. Some time later, his pen hovered over the line for his signature. By signing this form, he signed away Lorne's right to return without an incredible fuss.

"Unscheduled off-world activation!" Amelia's voice echoed from the control room. Sheppard popped out of his chair and ran toward the gate. Amelia turned, surprised. "It's Major Lorne."

Sheppard looked at Woolsey and clenched his jaw. "Lower the shield." He headed for the stairs, calling for security teams.

The shield dropped, and Lorne rushed through the gate. He sported a black eye, a few cuts, and one nasty limp. But his eyes glinted as he stared at Sheppard and the wary security teams. "What took you so long?" he demanded. Sheppard blinked at the sarcasm, and Lorne belatedly added, "Sir?"

~TBC


	18. Decision

**Author's Note:** Contains spoilers for SGU: "Subversion." Also, everyone enjoying this story send a big thank you to TychoV for helping me save my computer files after some ransomware tried to hijack the system! For a moment there, I thought I'd have to re-write the last few chapters of the story. But, everything's right in computer-land again! As always, let me know what you think. ~lg

Decision

Sheppard followed Lorne to the infirmary with a scowl on his face. The major looked the same except for his injuries, but something bugged Sheppard. He knew that being in enemy hands for any length of time did something to a person, but Lorne had never been the type to have such a drastic personality change. No matter if he'd been captured by the Wraith or the Genii, Lorne always retained his dry humor and ability to deadpan jokes. It was just how the major coped with life. If anything, he should have made a joke when coming through the gate, not the biting comment and belated respect for a superior officer.

In the infirmary, Lorne willing lay under the scanner while Keller examined him. Sheppard and Ronon stood next to the door, watching. The major's willingness to undergo the medical procedures, as well as Keller's neutral face, indicated a lack of snake infestation. That still didn't explain the hostility Sheppard sensed coming from Lorne. He turned away from the scene, tapping the radio at his ear. "Teyla, come in."

A moment later, she responded. "Yes?"

"I need you to bring Lea to the infirmary." Sheppard glanced over his shoulder. "Make sure someone watches Jessie, and come with her."

"Of course." Teyla paused, and hope infused her voice when she next spoke. "I take it Major Lorne just returned?"

"I'm not sure." Sheppard sighed. "That's why I need Lea."

He turned back to the scene as Lorne sat up on the bed. Keller spoke with him for a few moments and examined his leg. As much as he hated medical procedures, Sheppard admired Keller's ability to withstand a hostile glare while working to stitch the nasty cut Lorne had somehow sustained. Finally, when she finished, she nodded to Sheppard, indicating he could now question the major.

He stepped forward, sensing Ronon immediately behind him. "Major, what happened out there?"

"What do you think, Sir?" Lorne asked sarcastically. "I was captured."

Sheppard almost heard the "duh" at the end of that statement. He frowned. "You've been gone for two weeks. We'd like a little more information than that."

"The Trust infiltrated that gang."

"We knew that already."

"Yeah?" Lorne shook his head as if trying to clear it. "Well, they're also into some of the largest gangs in the world. Right now, it appears that organized crime is their weapon of choice."

"We suspected that, as well." Sheppard regarded him coolly. "You're not telling us anything we don't already know."

"Well, what would you like to know, Sir?" Lorne glared. "You wanna know every little step I took in order to escape?"

"That would be a start." Sheppard's own anger rose.

"You know what I did?" Lorne hopped off the bed to stand upright, never wincing at the pain that cut on his leg must have caused. "I killed bad guys. Lots of them. I did what I had to do to get back to Atlantis."

"And I understand that. I really do." Sheppard suddenly felt like he was talking to a rebellious teenager. "But two weeks is a long time. And, to be honest, you're not yourself."

"Would you be?"

"I'd be a little closer to what people expect of me."

"Oh, so you'd sweep it all under the rug?"

As he talked, Sheppard sensed Ronon tense. Every word from Lorne's mouth confirmed that something had changed. The infirmary door opened, and Lea rushed through, hope covering her pretty face. She hesitated when she saw Lorne, and the major simply stared at her.

After a moment, Lorne turned to Sheppard. "What's she doing here?"

Sheppard blinked. "Major?"

"You heard me, Sir." Lorne pointed. "Why is she here? She's my landlady. She shouldn't even know about this place."

Beside Teyla, Lea's face crumbled. "Evan?"

Lorne continued to stare at Sheppard.

Rather than answering Lorne, Sheppard moved to put an arm around Lea's shoulders. He led her out of the infirmary, knowing that Teyla would follow. As he left, he sent Ronon a glance that told the Satedan to keep a close eye on Lorne.

In the hallway, Lea whirled. "What was that?"

"I don't know," Sheppard answered honestly. "He's only been back a couple minutes, and he was in enemy hands for two weeks. There's no telling what they did to him."

Lea pointed. "That's not Evan." Her eyes filled with tears. "I don't know who he is, but that's not Evan."

Sheppard hugged her, remembering the day two weeks ago when he held her in a similar manner. "I know. We're going to figure this out."

After a long moment, Lea stepped back. She stared at him with heartbreak covering her face. "What happens if. . . ?"

"Don't go there." He took her shoulders. "We'll get him back. Just. . .give us some time."

Lea nodded and allowed Teyla to lead her away. Once the women were out of earshot, Sheppard tapped his radio. "Security teams to the infirmary." He let out a deep breath. This was not how one recovered his second-in-command.

oOo

Lea walked beside Teyla, reeling from rejection. She'd expected changes in Evan's personality. She had tried to prepare herself for them. After a hard day at work, Mark had often been withdrawn and sulky. She had expected that from Evan. Instead, he flatly rejected her. It cut deeper than anything she'd ever known.

At her quarters, Lea touched Teyla's shoulder and stepped inside. The Athosian followed her, however, and Lea appreciated the gesture. Colonel Carter and Deanna Mitchell sat with Jessie, listening attentively as the little girl explained her latest drawing. Jessie looked up, however, when her mother entered. "Mommy, where's Uncle Evan?"

Carter and Deanna waited, similar expressions on their faces.

Lea drew in a shaky breath and tried to smile. "Uncle Evan was hurt while he was at work. He's with Dr. Keller, and she's going to make him all better."

Jessie's eyes widened. "Is he going to be okay?"

She wished she could say yes. "I don't know, baby."

Jessie's eyes filled with tears. "Can I see him?"

At that point, Lea couldn't hold her tears any longer. She let them spill down her cheeks as she tried to figure out exactly how to tell her daughter that Evan no longer wanted them. Jessie's life revolved around him, and his cold dismissal would destroy the little girl.

Teyla took over for Lea. "Jessie, we are not sure how long it will take for your Uncle Evan to get better. He has been seriously injured, and Dr. Keller will need to treat him for a while."

Jessie looked from Teyla to her mother, and tears filled her eyes. "Can I draw him a picture?"

Lea smiled through her tears. "I'm sure he'd like that." She refused to think about how Evan might respond to the gesture. Right now, her daughter needed to know her favorite person would be okay.

Jessie climbed to her feet and came to her mother. Lea pulled the little girl onto her lap and hugged her tightly, not wanting to let go. She hoped that Sheppard figured out how to help Evan before it was too late.

oOo

"Brainwashing?" Sheppard stared at Cameron Mitchell. "You're telling me that Lorne's been brainwashed?"

Several minutes into the briefing, the tension in the room rose to new levels. After Teyla left the infirmary with Lea, Sheppard ordered Keller to isolate Lorne. The major wasn't happy, but Sheppard didn't care. He wanted his second-in-command back, and that meant ensuring the safety of the base. Right now, Lorne sat in an isolation chamber, under the watchful guard of two security personnel armed with Wraith stunners.

Now, Sheppard glared at both Mitchell and Keller. In her examination of Major Lorne, Keller had discovered subcutaneous bruising on his temple. When she presented the images to the briefing room, both Mitchell and Teal'c responded in alarm. Sheppard had heard of this technique, but he'd never seen it in action.

Teal'c regarded Sheppard with very little emotion. "Indeed."

Sheppard held up a hand. "But I thought someone who went through this type of brainwashing wasn't so. . .different. I mean, Lorne's always been quick on the up-take, but he's never been so sarcastic. And what's up with him responding to Lea the way he did? When I last saw those two together, they. . . . Well, I think most of us here witnessed that."

Teal'c's eyebrow rose. "You are correct, Colonel Sheppard. Goa'uld brainwashing techniques are indeed nearly impossible to trace. Major Lorne should not have changed so drastically."

Teyla stirred in her seat. "Perhaps it has something to do with Lea."

Sheppard nodded. "That makes sense. In order for any kind of brainwashing attempt to work, the victim has to remain as close to their own personality as possible. With Lea still here on Atlantis, Lorne had a reason to fight the procedure. Maybe that changed his personality."

"While this is all interesting," Woolsey said, speaking for the first time, "our goal is not to debate why Major Lorne is acting so irrational. Our goal is to figure out how to break the conditioning he's undergone."

"Indeed," Teal'c said again. He glanced around the room. "Goa'uld brainwashing technology is usually quite effective if one has not previously undergone such torture. If he was subjected to this type of technology, there is only one way for Major Lorne to overcome the effects."

Sheppard waited and finally glared when no answer was forthcoming. "And that is?"

Teal'c raised an eyebrow. "The Rite of M'al Sharran is the only way to break such influence."

Mitchell leaned forward, bracing his arms on the table as he let out a deep breath. "Yeah, and it's not pretty."

Sheppard nodded once. "What's involved?"

Teal'c exchanged a glance with Mitchell. "The Rite of M'al Sharran involves removing a Jaffa's symbiote so that he can be brought to the point of death."

Mitchell stared at his hands. "In humans, it means killing them. Clinically." He paused long enough for Sheppard to draw in a sharp breath. "On the Destiny, Colonel Young wound up venting the atmosphere in Colonel Telford's compartment simply to break the hold the technology had over him. Telford was clinically dead."

"Wait," Keller said, her voice trembling. "You're talking about actually _killing_ Major Lorne. We can't do that."

Teal'c raised an eyebrow at her. "If you wish to see Major Lorne recover, you must do so."

Mitchell shrugged. "Besides, you should be able to revive him." His meaning was clear. Lorne wasn't just a fellow officer to Mitchell.

Keller stared at the two members of SG-1. "But what if I'm not?" She turned to Woolsey. "With all due respect to SG-1, we have no experience with this kind of technology. We don't know what failsafes the Trust may have implanted into Major Lorne's mind."

Woolsey took a moment to collect his thoughts. "You're sure there's no other way to break this brainwashing technology?"

Mitchell shook his head once. "Nope." He glanced at Keller. "Look, I understand your issues. This is my wife's favorite cousin. That makes me willing to do whatever it takes to get Evan back, not some pitiful impersonation of him."

Sheppard agreed with Mitchell. "So, how do we do this? _If_ we do this?"

Ronon, sitting between Sheppard and Mitchell, stirred in his seat. "How much damage do you want to cause to Major Lorne?"

Sheppard eyed him. "How did I know you'd be the first one to pipe up on this topic?"

"What?" Ronon shrugged. "As far as I know, there's only two ways to effectively kill someone without leaving disastrous consequences. Suffocation and drowning. If you poison someone, their body still has to fight the poison. And, if I'm understanding this correctly, we want Lorne to be able to function after this, not have to spend massive amounts of time recovering from injuries sustained during the ordeal. So anything involving violence is out of the question."

The room fell silent as everyone considered their options. Most, like Sheppard and Mitchell, debated the best way to accomplish their goals without causing undue harm. Others, such as Keller, wondered if they should just murder Lorne in cold blood and call it good. After all, that's what they discussed.

Finally, Mitchell sat back. "If no one else wants, I'll take care of this."

"No." Sheppard held up a hand. "I'll do it. Lorne is under my command, and I promised Lea we'd get him back." He glanced around. "And she is to know nothing about this."

Woolsey finally nodded. "Okay. Colonel Sheppard, see that this ends quickly. I don't want this hanging over our heads indefinitely. And Dr. Keller? I understand your objections, but please be on hand for this whole thing. I want the best doctor in two galaxies there, making sure Major Lorne returns to us."

Sheppard pushed back from his chair before anyone else said a word. He had too much to consider. In his years on Atlantis, he'd only faced the possibility of killing fellow officers twice. He knew he could simply pull the trigger. But this was different.

Ronon stopped his march toward the gym. "Hey, how are we going to do this?"

Sheppard thought for a moment. "Drowning, I think." He glanced around. "Come on. We need to get this over with."

Ronon didn't argue, and Sheppard appreciated that. After this was finished, he planned to find some secluded spot where he could cope with the idea of actually murdering his second-in-command. Right now, however, he only wanted Lorne back to his normal, unflappable self. And he'd do whatever it took to make that happen, even if Keller never spoke to him again.

~TBC


	19. Death

**Author's Note: ** Contains spoilers for SGU "Subversion."

Death

Sheppard walked into the isolation chamber and glanced at the observation deck. Lea had taken to standing in the shadows, watching as Lorne paced. He caught her up there late last night, after moving the major to his current location. At the time, she hadn't said a word, but Sheppard understood. She needed to be close. She also held a picture in her hands, one drawn by Jessie and intended to help Lorne "feel better." Sheppard had grinned, hoping that he'd one day discover the kind of love that little girl shared with Evan.

Seeing the observation deck empty of everyone save Mitchell, Sheppard raised the Wraith stunner in his hand and fired. Lorne collapsed in the middle of a sarcastic comment, silencing the room. Sheppard turned toward Beckett and the security detail. "Let's move, people."

Carson made quick work of wrapping a straitjacket around Lorne's torso. Sheppard regretted the use of the device, but it made their job easier. By binding Lorne's hands to more than just a weighted belt, the major wouldn't be able to fight as effectively. The shackles around his ankles prevented him from kicking his legs. Once at the SGC, Sheppard planned to add a weighted belt to the get-up.

"Move." Ronon's growl pushed the security detail out of the way. The Satedan bent and picked the major, throwing him over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes. Sheppard followed Ronon toward the Jumper bay. Carter would have beamed them directly to the SGC, but her ship had gone on a routine resupply mission without her. Now that Lorne had returned, she had gated to a world on the _George Hammond's_ route and would rejoin her crew.

Ronon settled Lorne's unconscious form on one of the benches in the Jumper's rear. Keller stood with her equipment, eyeing the major cautiously. She still didn't agree with their mission, but Sheppard knew no other way to overcome the brainwashing. And he needed Keller on hand to revive Lorne once the deed was done.

They had just landed at the SGC when Lorne regained consciousness. He sat up, struggling and cursing about being treated as a prisoner. Sheppard ground his teeth as Ronon threw the major over his shoulder and carried him toward the SGC's newly-installed swimming pool. Landry had already cleared the room and posted Teal'c and Daniel outside as a deterrent against the occasional onlooker. No one needed to see what was about to happen. It had caused too many problems for Colonel Young on the _Destiny_, and Landry hoped to forestall any troubles on Earth.

Lorne glared at Sheppard as he realized his fate. "What? You're just going to kill me? As if I'm an enemy?"

Sheppard ignored the major, refusing to rise to the bait. _That's not Lorne,_ he reminded himself. Lorne had never shown this violent side. Lea, however, had revealed parts of Lorne's character that Sheppard hadn't known existed. She brought out his soft side, the one willing to make eyes at her in spite of who watched them. Her troubles sent Lorne into hiding, something the major would never have done before. Sheppard and Mitchell theorized that Lorne's resistance to the brainwashing and his fight to return to Lea had resulted in the angry, hostile man they now moved toward the water.

"Ready?" Ronon asked as he splashed into the water.

Behind the men, Keller piped up, "No."

Sheppard simply stared at the pool. "Let's get this over with." He pushed Lorne into the water and jumped in after him, watching the major's body convulse as the weighted belt pulled him toward the bottom. Lorne's eyes opened, and horror covered his face. Sheppard's instincts screamed to pull his man from the water, to stop the travesty happening before his eyes. As Lorne yelled even below the water, Sheppard held the fighting man down and silently willed the minutes to pass.

oOo

Lea slipped into the observation deck with another picture from Jessie in her hands. She came here every few hours. While Jessie slept last night, she had appeared and watched Evan pace below her. He glanced up a couple times, but she didn't think he saw her. Even though his eyes had shown no signs of love or acceptance back in the infirmary, she couldn't just abandon him. Now, she appeared to leave the picture Jessie had drawn so that her daughter could focus on getting through the day.

"He's gone." Woolsey's voice startled her from her thoughts.

"Excuse me?"

"They took him to the SGC." Woolsey turned from the rail and regarded her an with inscrutable expression.

"Why?"

"Something about helping him overcome the brainwashing effects."

"Brainwashing?" Lea blinked. "You're telling me Evan was brainwashed?"

Woolsey stared at her. "What have you been told?"

"Nothing." She frowned. "Though I think I have a certain colonel to thank for that."

"Colonel Sheppard was adamant that you not be involved in any way."

"Why?"

"I think he should explain it to you." Woolsey took her elbow and turned her toward the door.

"Where's Colonel Sheppard now?"

"At the SGC."

"Doing what?"

"Helping Major Lorne." Woolsey's grip on her elbow tightened. "If you'll wait a few hours, they'll likely be back."

"A few hours?" She walked along with him since he gave her no choice. "You can break brainwashing in just a few hours?"

"It's difficult, but it can be done."

"I want to be there."

"I can't allow that."

"You can't, or you won't?" Lea pulled her elbow from his grip. "Get me to the SGC now. I don't care what you have to do. I want to be there. I _need_ to be there!" She struggled to hold on to her emotions in the face of such blatant disregard. When Woolsey simply stared at her, she drew herself up to her full height. "I see."

Without another word, Lea turned on her heel and marched back to her quarters. She'd left Jessie with Deanna again, so the little girl wouldn't witness to her mother's tantrum. In the quarters, Lea carefully set the picture aside and found the first breakable thing she could throw. The release felt good, and she grabbed the lamp from the desk. It shattered against the wall. Breathing hard, she stood in the middle of the room and completely collapsed. As her legs gave out from beneath her, she realized that she needed to find the strength to endure or just give up. Giving up wasn't an option. Evan was still alive, just hidden beneath layers of deception in his mind. Determined to have her way in one instance, she stood and grabbed the cell phone that, surprisingly, still worked.

"Bates." The impersonal greeting almost brought a smile to her face.

"Samuel, it's Lea." She took a deep breath. "I need a favor."

"Lea, what's wrong?"

"They took Evan." She let out the deep breath and ground her teeth together. "I just found out that Evan's been transferred to the SGC."

"What? He's back?" He finally decoded her words. "Why?"

"Apparently, he's been brainwashed."

"He's been _what?_" Samuel had obviously been kept out of the loop. "How?"

"I don't know, but Woolsey's being. . . .He won't let me leave." She looked around. "I'm stuck in Atlantis as if it's a prison, and I am _not_ going to stay here. If you can't get me to the SGC, I will find another way."

"Whoa, slow down." Samuel sounded like he was running. "Give me a few minutes. I'll see what I can work out."

Lea hung up the phone and dropped onto the edge of her bed. She'd likely regret her tantrum later, but she didn't care about the mess right then. Samuel seemed as angry as she'd been, and that might be a good thing.

Thirty minutes later, someone paged her to the Jumper bay. Lea jumped to her feet and nearly ran from her quarters, stopping once to get directions from a passing lieutenant. A pilot waited with Samuel, who ushered her into one of the Jumpers. They took off shortly thereafter, and Lea imagined Woolsey's irritation that she'd had her way. Her eyes slid toward Samuel. "What did you say to Woolsey to get him to agree to this?"

Samuel shook his head. "You don't want to know."

Lea left it at that. The flight passed quickly, and she prepared herself for what she might see. After all, she had no idea if watching Evan overcome this brainwashing would be the same as watching someone detox from heavy duty drugs. She tried to imagine the worst, and she determined that she'd never give up on him.

Nothing could have prepared her for seeing Sheppard and Ronon standing in the shallow end of a swimming pool, lugging a bound and unresponsive Evan out of the water. His eyes were open, and his lips had gone blue. Teal'c and Daniel Jackson stood beside her along with Bates. She froze as Keller checked Evan's vitals and turned to Sheppard. "He's dead."

The words echoed in Lea's mind, and she felt herself shatter. A loud wail echoed around the room, causing Sheppard and Ronon to whirl. Sheppard glared at her. "What's _she_ doing here?"

Samuel already had an arm around her shoulders. "You should have known better than to try to keep this from her."

"But you could have waited until we were back on Atlantis!"

Lea ignored them as she began to rush toward Evan's soaked body. Ronon moved quickly, however, and grabbed her around the waist as she let out another wail. He pinned her arms to her sides, but she fought with everything in her. She couldn't go through this again! She _wouldn't_ go through this again! If Evan didn't wake up, she'd find a way to kill John Sheppard, and she'd gladly do the prison time for it. Cam and Deanna would likely take Jessie into their home.

No, she couldn't do that to her daughter. No. She'd have to find some legal, more insidious way to exact her revenge on Sheppard.

She barely registered her sobs as both Teal'c and Ronon kept her from Evan's side. Keller continued to work, muttering to Evan to come back to them. The doctor sent a glance toward Lea several times. Realizing she wasn't getting free, Lea quit fighting and simply cried while Teal'c and Ronon held her.

She was a black widow, Lea realized as she stared. First Mark, and now Evan. The two men she'd loved with all her heart had died. How would she overcome this? She couldn't deprive her daughter of life and happiness. How would she explain this to Jessie? That thought made her squirm in Ronon's arms, and she missed Keller's excited "Yes!"

oOo

Lorne drew in a deep breath for the first time in what seemed like forever, and he rolled to the side to keep from choking on the water as his lungs purged. He choked and gagged for a few seconds, hearing Sheppard congratulating Keller over the soft whimpering somewhere else in the room. Realizing he couldn't move, he rolled back onto his side and stared up at his CO. "Mind letting me go, Sir?"

Sheppard, completely soaked and looking like he'd aged twenty years in the last two weeks, grinned. "It's good to have you back, Major."

"Good to be back, Sir." He wiggled to a sitting position. "But, really, did you have to go with the straitjacket? If they were carrying us away to the funny farm, shouldn't you have joined me?"

Sheppard merely shook his head as he worked on the shackles around Lorne's legs. Keller moved to release the straitjacket. Across the room, the whimpers quieted, and Lorne turned to see Lea still held tightly in Ronon's arms. She looked as if she'd fought with everything in her, and he suddenly wanted to punch the man who thought bringing her here was a good idea.

As soon as he was free, Ronon released Lea. She shot across the room and directly into Lorne's arms. He held her as she dissolved into tears again. He may not have been quite himself while under the influence of the brainwashing, but he clearly remembered what happened. Rejecting her had driven him almost insane, but he'd been unable to stop himself from the harsh words and the aggressive posturing. His brain had been temporarily reprogrammed.

Lea finally released him at Keller's urging. Lorne wanted to tell the doctor to mind her own business and leave Lea alone, but he knew Keller only did her job. And breathing that much water had to be detrimental to his health. He loosened his hold on Lea and let the doctor ordered him onto a gurney. As she did so, Sheppard stepped to Lea's side.

She turned to the colonel suddenly and hugged him. Lorne watched, seeing the friendship that had developed between the two over the last couple of weeks. Lea still needed to cope with some issues, and Sheppard clearly wasn't happy with whomever had brought her. But Lorne refused to hold everyone accountable. Sheppard had saved him, and Lea had welcomed him home. The man who brought Lea to the SGC, however, would receive his wrath. He lay back on the gurney and watched the lights of the SGC as Keller wheeled him to the infirmary.

~TBC


	20. Reunion

Reunion

By that evening, Lorne was fully ensconced into a bed in Atlantis's infirmary. He still fought with a few lingering symptoms of his ordeal in the pool, but Keller and Sheppard seemed satisfied with his prognosis. And all traces of that brainwashing technology had been eradicated. He'd spent the last hour typing up a report on his two weeks in Athena's custody, and he knew tomorrow likely held one very long briefing. Keller talked about releasing him to light duty for the next few days as they made sure he fully recovered.

The urge to cough still plagued him, and Lorne shook his head as he closed the laptop McKay had brought. His team had also made an appearance, and he simply wanted some time to himself. _No_, he corrected himself, _I don't want time alone. I want time with my family._ Cam and Deanna had not yet appeared, and Lea had stopped at the SGC infirmary long enough to inform him that she needed to get back to Atlantis. Lorne still wanted to punch whichever idiot had authorized Lea's presence at the SGC.

As if thinking about her could make her appear, Lea poked her head through the entrance to the infirmary. Lorne glanced around and, seeing Keller in her office, waved Lea inside. The smile that blossomed on her face made it hard to breathe, but Jessie's careful approach melted his heart. The little girl climbed into the chair next to his bed and gently touched his arm. "Mommy says you got hurt bad."

"I did." Lorne grinned. "But I'm here to get better. I should be okay by tomorrow."

"Can I give you a hug?"

"You can climb up here first." He scooted to make room on the bed while Lea watched over her daughter's safety.

When she finally managed to settle next to him, Jessie nearly strangled him in a tight hug. "I missed you, Uncle Evan."

He blinked at how deeply those words affected him. "I missed you, too." He would die to protect this little girl. He would do just about anything to protect her. Rather than dwelling on that, he glanced at the stack of papers next to his bed. "I got all your pictures that you drew for me."

Jessie sat up, a grin covering her face. "Did you like them?"

"I loved them." He glanced at her mother. "What did your mom think?"

"Mommy was worried about you."

Lea laughed. "Kids are intuitive."

"That's okay." Lorne grinned. "I was worried about me, too."

He continued to chat with Jessie until Keller appeared. Seeing the wistful looks passing between the two adults, Keller offered to take Jessie to the mess hall. The little girl squealed at the idea of dessert and jumped off the bed. As she walked out the door hand-in-hand with Keller, Lorne shook his head. "She's getting big."

"Yes, she is." Lea pulled the chair close. "Imagine how I feel. I remember her when she was tiny."

Lorne studied her, seeing the dark shadows under her eyes and the green irises changing to blue. "Hey."

"I missed you." She blinked, suddenly in tears.

He reached out and ran a hand through her hair. "You know that wasn't me talking? Right?"

"I get it." She shook her head. "We're not such a backwater people that the concept of brainwashing is incredibly alien."

"That's not what I mean."

She stared at him. "I thought I'd lost you. Forever."

Lorne wanted to brush off the comment. He wanted to tell her that he wasn't that easy to kill. But his words stopped in the back of his throat. For Lea, who had no idea what was happening, seeing Sheppard and Ronon pull him out of the water had to have been. . . .He couldn't imagine it. Rather than trying to console her, he tugged her toward the bed. "Come here."

Lea settled into the spot her daughter had vacated and curled into his arms. Lorne ignored the bruises and awkward position as he felt her tears begin to seep through his shirt. The soft cries became bone-wrenching sobs, and he simply held her. He remembered nights during his incarceration with the Trust, times when Athena would leave him alone to physically recover from the agony her device caused. Her Jaffa had also beaten him quite a bit, reinforcing the brainwashing techniques. Lorne finally collapsed to his knees one night, unable to withstand anything else. He wept that night. For Lea. For Jessie. For Atlantis and every other person he was about to betray. He never wanted to turn on them, but his body and mind couldn't take much more. Each night after that, he wept until he slept. He always awoke to agony. But the loneliness and knowledge that he could not escape were the worst.

Shaking the memories away, Lorne realized that Lea had fallen asleep. In the two weeks since their last, steamy kiss on his balcony, she had changed. Her cheeks were hollow, and he saw the shadows in her eyes. But she had Jessie, and she had him. He silently promised her that he'd do whatever he could to keep her safe and help her heal. It was the least he could do.

An hour later, Keller returned with Cam and Deanna. Lorne stirred, surprised that he'd dozed off in such an awkward position. His cousin grinned at the sight, and Lorne admitted to himself that it had to be a pretty interesting one. Lea still slept on his shoulder, her arm lying across his chest in a way that he found utterly thrilling.

Deanna approached the bed, whispering so not to wake Lea. "I could make some smart-aleck remarks here."

"Yeah, well, I remember you being the one kissed completely speechless in the _Odyssey's _infirmary," he pointed out.

Deanna blushed. "There were extenuating circumstances."

"That's what they all say." Lorne enjoyed teasing his cousins. He'd once managed to get Danny so tongue-tied that he actually forgot Marissa's name. His grin faded quickly, however, as Lea shifted slightly in her sleep.

Cam moved to Deanna's side. "I think your doctor is going to be upset if you don't get some sleep."

Keller shook her head. "You saw the scene back at the SGC. I'm not moving Lea anywhere."

Cam nodded at that statement. "We've got Jessie." He stared at Lorne for a moment. "Take care of her."

"I plan to."

Cam and Deanna left shortly after that, and Keller moved another bed close so that Lea wouldn't accidentally roll onto the floor in the middle of the night. She smiled at Lorne. "Don't get used to this, Major. She strikes me as the type to be completely embarrassed if caught."

Lorne refused to admit that he planned to become very used to this. He simply watched Keller work. "Thanks for tonight, Doc."

"Hey, I was ready to sedate her earlier." Keller straightened after preparing the blankets on the bed. "Besides, she hasn't slept in two weeks. If this helps her without using any medications, I'll allow it." She smiled and pulled the curtains around the two beds. "For one night," she added just before she disappeared. Lorne grinned and settled Lea into a more comfortable position on the bed. His mind returned to his thoughts from a moment ago. He definitely planned to keep Lea this close for a very long time.

oOo

Sheppard watched his second-in-command grin as he drifted back to sleep. Lea slept peacefully on his shoulder, and Sheppard realized the two looked happy. Ragged and tired, but happy.

He slipped out of the infirmary and walked down the corridor. Lea seemed to have forgotten the events of the day. Sheppard wished he could forget them. The look on Lorne's face as he struggled against the two men holding him under the water was burned into Sheppard's mind for the remainder of his life.

What had he been thinking? Sheppard thought he could simply drown a close friend and press on without any consequences. He'd been wrong. He walked to the east pier, staring out at the Golden Gate Bridge sparkling in the moonlight and sighed. Life was never easy.

oOo

Lorne settled into a chair and looked around the room. The massive table Woolsey had added to the briefing room upon his arrival in Pegasus now looked crowded. The entirety of SG-1 was present, Carter by video conference. Sheppard's entire team, as well as Woolsey and General Landry stared at him expectantly. Across from Lorne, Bates eyed everyone. He seemed to have been reprimanded for taking Lea to the SGC, but Lorne hadn't finished with the man.

For now, though, Lorne needed to answer questions concerning the two weeks he'd spent in the Trust's custody. He shared only the necessary details, not really wanting to explain his crying jags and why he'd fought so hard. As if Sheppard or Cam needed to guess. "Athena expects me to work as a sleeper agent in Atlantis, preparing the city for her eventual takeover." He shrugged. "I'm not to be the main operative. I'm backup."

Sheppard scowled. "You're telling me there's someone else?"

Lorne nodded. "You've got a mole."

That went over like a lead balloon. Each person at the table stared at Lorne while absorbing his words. Finally, Woolsey spoke. "Who? Do you know?"

"No." Lorne shook his head, somewhat ashamed for the hundredth time since his return to Atlantis. "From what I can tell, this mole is a true believer, someone who wasn't brainwashed by the Trust. I could be wrong, though. This person is supposed to make contact with me sometime after my return to give me my instructions a step at a time. Athena put me in play in an administrative role."

"Because we trust you," Sheppard said.

"Yeah."

Ronon glanced around the room. "Why don't we use that?" He looked from person to person, finally stopping with his eyes on Woolsey. "If this mole doesn't know Lorne's been freed from the brainwashing, we can use that to our advantage. Feed the Trust false information."

Woolsey nodded. "It's a viable option, and one I'm not opposed to using. However, Major, it's also got to be your decision. You're the one who just spent two weeks with the Trust. You know what they want better than we do."

"With all due respect, Mr. Woolsey," Lorne said with slight sarcasm in his voice, "we all know what they want."

Sheppard rubbed his face. "Atlantis."

Lorne grinned. "Who wouldn't want a massive city with some of the most powerful weapons known to humanity that's also capable of traveling light years in an instant thanks to a wormhole drive and has a shield and cloak?"

Across the table, Bates smirked.

"When you put it that way. . . ." Sheppard studied Lorne. "You sure you're up for this, Major?"

"Do I have a choice, Sir?" Lorne held up a hand to stop Sheppard from speaking. "I'm not referring to military orders. I'm referring to the situation. Right now, the best bet you have of uncovering this mole is to allow me to continue the mission I was sent back to do. Of course, it will be with your full knowledge and support, and the intelligence I give them will either be false or misleading. But, honestly, do we have another option?"

No one answered him, and he sat back in his chair. "Then I suggest we get our ducks in a row. Because they're going to make contact soon, and I'll need something to give them."

For the next two hours, the group gathered slowly dwindled down to Woolsey, Lorne, and Sheppard's team. Carter was called away on ship business while the rest of SG-1 returned to Cheyenne Mountain at Woolsey's request that they brief General Landry. Bates merely slipped out of the room with SG-1.

Finally, the briefing ended, and Lorne stood, grateful to be heading home that day. He'd seen so many new faces since returning, and he knew finding the mole would be difficult. He'd set out to deliberately betray Atlantis, and he had his CO's full support. It was one mission he'd never hoped to receive. Still, in spite of all that had happened, he still had Lea.

Lorne grinned as he left the briefing room. Lea had slept through the entire night in the infirmary. Sometime close to midnight, she'd rolled onto her side, pulling his arm along with her. Lorne woke that morning, quite comfortable except for the long blond hair tickling his nose. While Lea seemed embarrassed and slightly out of sorts, he'd enjoyed the chance to make her blush. Now, Lorne looked forward to the dinner they'd planned before she slipped out of the infirmary and snuck back to her quarters.

"Major." The business-like greeting pulled him from his thoughts. Lorne turned toward the voice and saw a tall man wearing an Atlantis uniform.

"Do I know you?"

"No." He held out his hand. "Major Terrence Heinz, formerly SGC."

Lorne shook the offered hand. "Major Evan Lorne. You're one of the new team leaders."

"Yeah, from what I understand, you had a lot of people bail on you when you got back to Earth."

"I don't even want to think about that." Lorne's own team had lost Coughlin. "Welcome to Atlantis, Major."

Heinz grinned. "Thank you, Sir."

Lorne returned the grin and continued toward his destination. Lea greeted him at the door, looking only slightly tired. He stepped inside her quarters, took her in his arms, and kissed her the way he'd been dreaming about since his abduction. Lea returned the kiss until a little body pushed her way between them. Lorne stepped back and picked up Jessie, who wanted in on the attention. He settled Jessie on his hip and wrapped his arm around Lea, holding his girls close to him. He never wanted to let them go again.

~TBC


	21. Agent

**Author's Note**: Contains spoilers for "Coup D'etat."

Agent

Lorne found Bates in his SGC office and quietly closed the door. He refused to knock, and he knew the other man didn't expect courtesy. Not at a time like this. He waited while Bates set down his pen and stared at him. "What were you thinking?"

Bates narrowed his eyes. "That Lea needed to be with you, and Sheppard went off on his own. Just like always."

"Did you even think that Lea didn't need to see that?" Lorne tried to keep his voice down, but his anger resurfaced, making that task even harder. "Did it ever occur to you that she's a _widow_? That she would naturally panic seeing me in that condition?"

Bates jumped to his feet. "Did it ever occur to you that Lea doesn't love easily? Even if you came home different, she'd love you until her dying breath. Sheppard didn't get that, and he kept her out of the loop." He scowled. "He kept _me_ out of the loop."

"Oh, is that your problem?" Lorne asked heatedly. "You're ticked that Sheppard acted in an emergency rather than informing you of every little step, and so you decide to disregard his _and_ Woolsey's orders to get Lea to the SGC?"

"You know better than that, Major."

"Do I?" Lorne held out his hands, shrugging. "Because I thought you were acting on emotion rather than reason. That's not something I expected from you, Bates. You've served on Atlantis. You know how quickly things can change."

"Things like your death?" Bates glared. "What would have happened if Keller hadn't been able to revive you?"

"We'll never know." Lorne returned the glare. "But Lea didn't need to see it either way."

"She's like a sister to me!"

"Yeah?" Lorne's eyebrows went to his hairline. "Let me tell you exactly what Lea is to me. She's my _life_. If I lost her, I don't know what I'd do. She's _everything_ to me. And, since she is everything to me, I'll do whatever I have to in order to keep her safe."

"Safe from what? You can't be with her every minute of the day."

Lorne actually laughed, but he wasn't finished. He held up a finger. "Stay away from her and Jessie."

"Are you threatening me, Major?"

"I'm not threatening. I'm not even promising anything. I'm ordering."

"You can't order me to do anything."

"No?" Lorne shrugged. "I can make sure you're no longer welcome on Atlantis."

"You wouldn't."

"I would."

The two men stared at each other, and Lorne realized that Bates had underestimated him. Bates thought that Lorne would bow to Lea's wishes. Neither Lea nor Bates truly understood the depths to which he'd gone in the last few weeks. The strength of his love for Lea and the depth of his anger combined to make him unstoppable. He refused to back down now, and he'd deal with the fallout from Lea when that came. For now, however, he needed to protect her from someone too selfish to see much else.

Finally, Bates looked away. "You'll get over this, Major."

"No, I won't." Lorne shook his head. "Not in the sense you think. I'll forgive, when I'm ready. But I won't forget. And I won't let my guard down again." He walked out of the office, angry and resolved.

oOo

Two weeks passed before Lorne received his first assignment. In that time, he settled into a delightful routine. He rose early, sparred a little with Ronon or ran with Sheppard, went to work for the day, and spent the evenings with Lea and Jessie. Those two recovered nicely from their two weeks without him. Lea's face filled out, and she often laughed at little things. Every laugh, every smile, every small gesture Jessie made thrilled him tremendously. Lorne knew he was a goner. He began considering options for the future, knowing that Atlantis would return to Pegasus if Woolsey and Sheppard had any say in the matter.

The first set of instructions came in the form of a handwritten note on his desk. He almost missed it as it blended with the paperwork he'd left scattered the previous evening. Now, he held up the page with block letters printed with a Sharpie marker. _Power distribution codes. Three days. Deliver to reading lab three._

Lorne looked up and glanced around. Any number of people had access to his office. With preparations under way for Atlantis's return to Pegasus, gate team leaders and administrative staff usually slipped into his office to drop paperwork on his desk. Lorne shifted through the papers, noting the names on the forms at the top of the pile. None of them seemed particularly suspicious.

Rather than making a huge deal out of the instructions, Lorne settled into his chair and began his paperwork for the day. As much as he loved going off world and getting into all kinds of trouble, he admitted that a quiet life no longer seemed so bad. With Lea and Jessie to keep him on his toes, he actually thought he might enjoy something a little less dangerous. He would miss Pegasus, he realized. But Pegasus needed strong men and women able to devote their entire attention to its many troubles. Having Lea and Jessie on Earth divided his attention.

After two hours, Lorne found some forms that needed Sheppard's signature. He piled them together, slipping the note between them. The cloak-and-dagger routine already bugged him, but he preferred it over the brainwashing. In Sheppard's office, he closed the door and faced his CO. "They made contact."

"Oh?" Sheppard responded as if he'd just told him the sky was blue. "What do they want?"

"Power distribution codes." Lorne began handing over paperwork, speaking as Sheppard signed the forms. "I have three days."

Sheppard never wavered. "You'll have them as soon as Rodney gets the firewall up."

Lorne returned to his office and his work. That evening, he asked Teyla to watch Jessie while he and Lea spent some time alone. Knowing what his new job entailed, Teyla gladly welcomed the little girl's presence. Lorne and Lea walked to their balcony, enjoying the privacy and the view of Atlantis. He faced her. "There's something you need to know."

She glanced at him, her eyes peaceful. "It's about the Trust, isn't it?"

"Yeah." He leaned one elbow on the railing and stared at his hands. "They've got a mole on Atlantis, and my job is to pretend the brainwashing is still in effect in order to feed the Trust information we want them to have."

She accepted that with a deep breath and small smile. "Be careful."

He reached out and ran a hand down her face. "Always." Suddenly, that wasn't enough. He pulled her into his arms and kissed her until they both struggled to breathe.

Three days later, he slipped into Reading Lab Three to deliver the codes per his instructions. No one occupied the lab, and Lorne knew this particular room rarely saw any traffic. The mole had done his research, however. Lorne had taken to disappearing into this lab some years ago, after the Genii tried to fake his death. While he didn't spend inordinate amounts of time there, he'd been known to pass two or three hours in the room after a traumatic event.

Two hours after he entered the lab, he left. He wondered if he should return that evening to see if the codes had been retrieved but knew that would seem suspicious. Instead, he spent the dinner hour with Lea and Jessie before disappearing to paint. He still had a month of leave, but his current plans for those weeks included more than just painting and relaxing. He needed time to prepare for those, and the middle of an undercover op wasn't the time.

Over the next two months, the instructions kept coming. Lorne compiled a list of various personnel who had recently come to Atlantis. Dr. Jehnsen, a new physicist working with McKay. Heinz and Miller, new gate team leaders. Larson, a nurse Keller just hired. Bryant, the newest member of Lorne's team. He hated suspecting Atlantis personnel, but he knew it was necessary. Too many roles needed to be filled, and time prevented him from investigating them all. He kept Sheppard informed of his various missions, and Sheppard usually arranged some sort of double cross. The power distribution codes from his first mission actually worked, but McKay had seen that Atlantis wouldn't be seriously compromised. The power came from one ZPM, but the codes and a computer program made it appear that the Trust had gained access to Atlantis's entire power grid.

The evidence continued to grow, and Lorne's frustration grew with it. He had no idea who his handler really was. Except for the list he kept and turned over to Sheppard weekly, he found no evidence linking these instructions to any one person. The handwriting wasn't familiar, either. Lorne almost marked the names of gate team leaders from his list and realized he'd have to remove every person from his list if he did so. All the departments filed inordinate amounts of paperwork as they prepared for the return to Pegasus. Any one person could be the mole, and he wouldn't know it until a life or death situation brought that person from the shadows.

In addition to the frustration of work, Lorne knew frustration in his personal life. Lea did her best to support him, but the stress of the mission occasionally got to her. They argued one evening, and he stupidly walked out of her quarters rather than facing the fear on her face. The next morning, before his duty shift, he found her on their balcony. Jessie played nearby, and he used the girl's distraction to apologize to Lea. She merely smiled and told him that she'd been wrong as well. Life on Atlantis was stressful, and she'd let that stress get to her.

Lorne wished he could ease the tensions, but he knew he couldn't stop his mission. It was too important, too earth-shattering if he failed. Lea understood that. Still, she couldn't hide every worry from him. They spent time that morning simply talking about the city and some of the adventures he'd had while working there. But Lorne read the writing on the proverbial wall. His time in Atlantis was drawing to a close.

Four months after his first set of instructions arrived, Lorne received the coded message he'd been dreading. The Trust was ready. They had all the codes and information they needed, thanks to his diligent work on their behalf. Their takeover of Atlantis would begin within two days. Certain people had to be removed from power, however, and he simply held on for the ride.

The next two days proved turbulent for everyone involved. Lorne watched Woolsey storm into his office after a particularly long meeting with the IOA, knowing what had happened. The Trust had likely influenced the IOA's decision to remove him from duty. Lorne knew, from speaking with Sheppard, that Landry planned to block the move. But it needed to happen for now. Since Woolsey had less experience in covert ops than Sheppard or Lorne, he only suspected that his removal was temporary.

The same day, the SGC received a call from one of their allies, requesting assistance. This particular ally requested Sheppard by name, raising suspicions even higher. Landry left the final decision to Sheppard, who concluded that his only option was to check it out. He and his team walked through the gate less than three hours after Woolsey's removal, leaving Lorne in charge of Atlantis. Sheppard left with a flippant comment about not blowing the place up, but Lorne knew what he meant. Like the colonel, he believed this off world request to be a trap and prepared to fight and defend Atlantis.

Within the hour of Sheppard's departure, the codes Lorne had provided the Trust were enacted remotely. Lorne had followed his instructions to the letter while still preparing various trusted individuals around the city. He had finally informed his team members, save Bryant, of the threat. Zelenka, who had survived Pegasus, also knew the possibility of coming danger. The new members of the expedition, even those from the SGC, were kept in the dark. Or so Lorne hoped.

When the Trust enacted the codes, Zelenka found Lorne in his office. "It's begun," the scientist said quietly.

Lorne stared at him, silenced by the announcement. He knew Lea supported him, but he didn't know if he'd be able to face her. He was, after all, betraying his own country.

"Major?"

Lorne shook himself from his thoughts and rose from his chair. "Let's go, Doc."

"Go where?"

"Auxiliary control." Lorne quickly walked out of his office. "Just stick close and follow my lead."

Zelenka followed quietly, not commenting as Lorne walked to a computer set up specifically for this mission. He took a position facing the door and typed his access code into the computer. The program his handler had created began to work, and he knew the control room likely panicked when power suddenly shifted to the auxiliary control room. With his radio ringing with calls for him to return to the control room, Lorne looked at Zelenka and nodded once.

Movement behind Zelenka brought his head up. "You've done well," the Goa'uld voice said a moment later."

Lorne blinked at Athena, a tall blond woman wearing an elegant business suit. "I've done what you requested."

Zelenka frowned. "Major?"

"And you shall be rewarded," Athena continued as she sauntered down the hallway behind Zelenka. "How much longer until I control this city?"

"About now." Lorne ignored the city-wide page for his presence and pressed a button on the nearest terminal. "All command codes have been changed, and this room now controls the Stargate and the city."

"Very good." Athena smiled and eyed Zelenka. "Now, kill him."

Lorne drew his sidearm without hesitating. Zelenka's eyes widened as he took aim. Lorne shrugged slightly. "Sorry about this, Doc."

~TBC


	22. Betrayed

**Author's Note:** Contains spoilers for "Critical Mass." Also, a big thanks to TychoV for his invaluable help with this chapter. When I was totally unsatisfied with the outcome, he sat with me while I debated the various options. I'm finally happy, and I hope it translates into the story! ~lg

Betrayed

Zelenka blinked, and his jaw fell open. He tried to speak, but his mouth simply flapped as no sound came out. Behind him, Athena sauntered forward. "Kill him, Major Lorne. You shall be richly rewarded."

Lorne glanced at Zelenka again and realized the scientist thought him completely insane. Either that or completely screwed. Lorne wasn't sure if he really wanted to know what went on in Zelenka's head. Instead of dwelling on that, he moved slightly and pulled the trigger.

Zelenka threw himself to one side as Athena crumbled to the floor. Lorne regretted the death of the host, but he understood the cost of war. Innocents sometimes died. He couldn't dwell on it right then. He rushed to Zelenka and hauled the Czech to his feet. "You okay, Doc?"

Zelenka touched his ear, clearly checking for blood. "I'm. . .I. . .You. . .I will be." He pulled himself together. "What do you need?"

"Return control of the city to Stargate operations." Lorne holstered his sidearm. "And find out who Athena contacted after she arrived here. I know I wasn't the only person."

Zelenka nodded, still a little rattled by Lorne's little ruse. "Yeah, I got it." He blinked, his face scrunching in confusion. "You really weren't going to kill me, were you?"

"No. But I needed her to think I was." Lorne clapped him on the shoulder as he passed, pausing long enough to wrinkle his nose. "Get someone down here for clean-up."

Zelenka started to mutter, this time in Czech. Lorne left him to his work, satisfied that his favorite scientist would keep the city running in his own way. He hurried to the armory, tapping his radio at the same time. "Lorne to Reed."

"Go ahead, Sir." Reed's voice sounded tense.

"I've got a situation. I need to assemble the team and meet me in the armory."

"Yes, Sir." Reed signed off, and Lorne knew his orders would be followed to the letter.

Within five minutes, his men assembled. Lorne grabbed a TAC vest and slipped into it, hooking a P90 to the clip. He faced his men. "We have something of a situation that's developed in the last few months. As you may know, I've been working to uncover a mole in Atlantis."

Reed nodded. "You told us, Sir."

Lorne glanced at Bryant. "Not all of you."

Bryant's eyebrows rose. "You thought I was the mole?"

Lorne let a friendly smirk cover his face. "Not really." He sobered. "I only told the people who had been with me in Pegasus as a matter of safety. The entire city wasn't-and still isn't-aware this is even happening. But, now that I'm confident in each of you, I'm officially informing you of the situation."

Bryant stared at him, stunned. "Yes, Sir." His voice betrayed his lingering shock.

Lorne turned from the young soldier and focused on Reed. "We're waiting for Zelenka. When he gives us a name, we're going to apprehend the mole."

The men accepted that with a nod, and silence fell as they collected radios, handguns, extra ammo, and everything they might need for an off world mission. Several minutes later, his radio crackled. "Major Lorne, this is Zelenka."

Lorne tapped the radio. "Go ahead, Doc."

"I've found your mole." Zelenka continued speaking, and Lorne's eyebrows rose in surprise. Out of all the people on the list, he'd never truly suspected the person.

"Understood, Doc. We're on our way."

"Oh, wait." Zelenka sounded surprised. "Colonel Sheppard and his team are just returning."

Lorne grinned at the idea of extra backup. "Have them meet us at crew quarters." He turned to his men. "We've got help coming. Let's move out."

At crew quarters, Lorne saw Sheppard and his team coming from the opposite direction, dressed for a mission. Sheppard joined him for a quick briefing. "Major?"

"Sir, Zelenka traced Athena's radio transmission to Major Heinz's quarters. From what we can tell, he's holed up there, waiting for further instructions."

Sheppard merely nodded and led the way toward Heinz's quarters. Lorne's heart sank as he realized just how close to Lea's quarters the rogue major lived. He followed Sheppard, praying that Lea and Jessie had gone somewhere safer-like the infirmary.

At Heinz's quarters, Sheppard waited while the two teams lined the corridor on either side of the door. Once Lorne nodded at him, he waved his hand over the crystals. The door opened, and Lorne ducked into the room with his weapon at the ready.

Heinz appeared in the door of the bathroom, dressed in jogging pants, pulling a T-shirt over his head, and hair standing on end. His eyes widened at the sight of eight people holding weapons on him, and he quickly held up his hands. "Sirs?"

Sheppard never wavered. "On the floor, Major. It's over."

Heinz quickly knelt down. "Sir?"

"Don't play coy with me." Sheppard scowled. "We traced the transmission. It's over."

Lorne's eyes narrowed as he watched Heinz try to reason out Sheppard's words. He moved to the colonel's side, speaking in undertones. "Sir, is it possible he's been brainwashed? I was."

Sheppard shrugged. "It's possible." He turned back to Heinz and opened his mouth to speak, but the radio interrupted him.

"Zelenka to Colonel Sheppard."

Lorne watched Heinz as he moved to stand near the bed. Something wasn't right here. As Sheppard talked quietly with Zelenka, Lorne glanced around the room. Nothing was out of place, but the room wasn't too clean, either. It looked like Heinz had simply come home at the end of the day. He turned around. "Hey, Heinz, what were you doing about half an hour ago?"

"Sparring." His eyes moved to Ronon. "Getting some extra time in before my training tonight with Ronon."

"You weren't anywhere near a computer?"

"No, Sir."

Lorne turned to Sheppard, who still talked with Zelenka. The conversation sounded heated, and McKay had even begun to chime in. "Sir, what's going on?"

Sheppard glared at him. "We've got another mole."

Lorne's eyebrows rose again. "Another one?"

"Yeah." McKay looked up from his tablet just as alarms started sounding around the city. The door slammed shut. "And he just put us in lockdown."

oOo

An hour later, Heinz sat on the bed, guarded by Ronon and Reed. Lorne and Sheppard hovered over McKay as he worked on Heinz's computer. "Wait. This can't be right."

Sheppard glared at the back of his head. "What can't be right?"

"According to this, Heinz put the entire city into a lockdown."

"So?"

"So his codes were used while he was here with us." McKay turned away from the computer. "The command came from Heinz's office."

Lorne turned to face Heinz. "Anyone else have access to your office?"

"No!" Heinz finally showed some anxiety. "And I locked the door when I left today!"

Sheppard glared. "We need to get out of here."

McKay let out an exasperated breath. "Yes, I know. Working."

"Work faster."

"I'm working as fast as I can." McKay punched a few more buttons on his tablet and frowned at it. "Wait. Whoa, whoa, whoa. What?"

Sheppard raised an eyebrow. "Wait, what?"

"Whoever put the city in lockdown invalidated my codes." McKay looked up from the tablet, his face panicked. "I can't do anything."

Sheppard growled and pointed at the door. Before Ronon could move, Lorne took his place next to the door, pushing with everything in him. Once the door cracked, the two men pushed it open. Lorne stepped back. "Well, that's this door. We've got how many more to get through before we get to Heinz's office?"

"The armory is close." Sheppard glanced around. "Let's get some C4."

Lorne nodded his acceptance and ordered Bryant and Reed to stay behind with Heinz. While he might have been innocent, he was still involved. The group of six reached the armory in relatively short order, and they filled their pockets with bricks of C4. A few moments later, they headed for Heinz's office.

Bates looked up from the computer. Lorne froze in the doorway, staring at the man he'd once trusted. "Bates?"

"Major." Bates stood. "Is there a problem?"

Sheppard took over the conversation. "Yeah, there's a problem." He walked around the desk and glared at the computer screen. "What are you doing here?"

"Working." Bates scowled. "Colonel, what's the meaning of this?"

"Working on what?" Lorne asked, not waiting for Sheppard to answer.

"Your mole situation." Bates frowned as McKay pushed him out of the way with a muttered order to move. "I've narrowed it down to one man: Major Terrence Heinz."

"We found Heinz." Sheppard pulled Bates to the side. "He's innocent."

"You think so?" Bates actually laughed. "He shouldn't even be here."

"What are you talking about?" Sheppard asked.

Before Bates could answer, McKay straightened. "Oh, no."

Sheppard whirled. "Oh, no, what?"

McKay stood and turned the monitor toward the room. Rather than a document or reports, computer code scrolled across the screen. "It's a virus, just uploaded into the city's mainframe."

"What's it do?" Sheppard asked.

"I don't know." McKay glared at him. "I just saw the thing."

"Well, find out!"

"I'm working on it!" McKay studied the screen for a few more moments. "What? Oh, no, no, no, no!"

"_What_?" Sheppard demanded.

"These codes?" McKay looked up with a stunned expression on his face. "They disabled the failsafes on the ZedPMs. And they created a feedback loop into the power conduits. The ZedPMs could overload at any minute!"

"Well, then I suggest you start working on it!" Sheppard ordered.

"I can't! It requires an access code." McKay folded his arms and turned to Bates.

Lorne raised his P90 and glared at Bates. "Get your hands up. Now." He clearly remembered the time Caldwell had been implanted with a Goa'uld symbiote, and he wasn't about to let another one get past him. "What are the codes?"

"What codes?" Bates asked.

"The ones to lift the lockdown and get McKay into the mainframe." Lorne walked closer to Bates, his voice dropping to dangerous levels as he moved. "The ones that _you_ used to make sure we couldn't save the city."

"Lorne, you know me better than that." Bates lifted his hands. "You know I'd never do that."

"No, I don't." Lorne shook his head. "The last time someone tried to overload the ZPMs, he was implanted with a Goa'uld."

"I'm not a Goa'uld." Bates shook his head. "I found a quiet office in which to work. Nothing more. How was I to know that Heinz had uploaded that virus onto his computer?"

Sheppard glanced at McKay. "Rodney?"

"Give me a moment." McKay pushed a few buttons on the computer. "No. This virus was clearly uploaded moments ago. It's attached to the files that Bates was working with just a few minutes ago."

Sheppard pushed Bates' shoulder. "Let's go."

Several things happened next. Bates continued to argue with Sheppard about his involvement in the plot to destroy the city. McKay hollered through the radio at Zelenka, who also worked to disable the virus. Ronon and Teyla stood in the doorway, looking as helpless as Lorne felt. And Heinz barreled into the room, followed by Bryant and Reed.

Before anyone could stop him, Heinz grabbed the front of Bates's suit and slammed him against the wall. "You son of a. . . How could you?"

Bates's expression changed in an instant. He actually grinned. "I believe you've done the doing, Major."

"I _trusted_ you!" Heinz shook Bates as he spoke, spittle flying into Bates's face. "You knew _everything_, and you used it to get what you wanted!"

"Hey!" Sheppard rushed to grab Heinz's shoulder. "Major, just let the man go. He'll answer for his crimes."

"You don't understand." Heinz didn't move. "He framed me. He used my past against me and framed me!"

"I didn't frame you," Bates replied. "You set yourself up! By copying that paper to pass a class, you made sure I had the right ammunition for when the time came! _You_ betrayed yourself."

Sheppard glanced between the two men, clearly confused. "Someone care to tell me what's going on?"

Bates grinned. "Years ago, in college, Heinz, here, decided to turn in a paper he stole from his girlfriend. She broke up with him about it, but he still passed the class. And, as you know, he doesn't keep his officer's status if he didn't pass college. By turning in someone else's work as his own, he invalidated his own degree."

Lorne blinked. "That's a minor thing in comparison to what we've faced." He'd also gone to college, though, and he knew just how seriously colleges took plagiarism. "But, he's right, Sir. Heinz could lose his degree and his commission in the military."

Bates smirked, and Heinz punched him. The two men grappled for a moment before Ronon stepped in. He quickly pulled Heinz away from Bates, and Sheppard grabbed the frantic major. Lorne stood directly in front of Bates, scowling. This just didn't feel right. "What did you do, Bates?"

"I made sure he had a reason to fear me." Bates shook his head. "He's here under false pretenses, might as well use them."

"Oh, so you frame him as the mole so you can get away with the Trust?" Lorne asked.

"When did the Trust come into this?"

"When you showed up." Lorne glanced at Sheppard, who allowed him to keep talking. "Every time you showed up, something went wrong. _Every_ time. Now, here we are, fighting a virus that you've uploaded into Atlantis's systems using codes you stole."

Bates smirked again. "I only used the codes I intercepted from the Trust. Codes you stole. So, in a way, you're responsible, Lorne."

"Enough." Sheppard shook the IOA agent and pushed him toward Ronon. "Get him to the brig."

"Got it!" McKay yelled triumphantly. Everyone in the office turned to see the scientist standing happily behind the desk.

Seeing his opportunity, Bates ran for the door. He didn't get far before Ronon stunned him with that big gun. Moments later, the Satedan picked him up and tossed him over his shoulder. Lorne watched Sheppard and Ronon carry Bates out the door. This felt anticlimactic in so many ways. He'd expected a massive showdown at the least. When McKay carried the computer from the lab, muttering about needing a sandwich after cracking that virus, Lorne breathed a sigh of relief and leaned against the wall. There was no bomb. The ZPMs were safe. No one had died today.

Lorne pushed away from the wall and walked out of Heinz's office. He stopped in the armory long enough to shed his TAC vest and P90. Then, he headed for Lea's quarters.

Jessie met him with a hug and a smile. Behind her, Lea watched as he picked up her daughter. Rather than standing in place, Lorne carried the girl to her mother and hugged both of them at the same time. As Lea's arms slipped around his waist, he felt the tension drain from his body. The city was safe. Atlantis would endure.

~TBC

**Author's Note 2: **I know a lot of you are probably wondering why Heinz would freak out over a simple plagiarized paper. Well, the truth is that, in the United States, plagiarism is considered a serious offense, particularly in a college setting. At my college-and I'm sure this goes for most colleges and universities-plagiarism ruins a grade point average, is reported to the head of a certain department and to the Vice President of Academic Affairs. Also, if the offense is bad enough, a student can be disenrolled and lose all chances of graduating from that institution. Not to mention that it ruins a student's credibility. I chose this as Heinz's crime because I needed something with dire consequences that wasn't necessarily a "crime." Plagiarism can be considered a legal offense, but it's not like murder or drug possession. It's more of a "white collar" crime. Hope that explains why Heinz freaked over it. As always, review and let me know what you think. Should be one more chapter after this. ~lg


	23. Return

**Author's Note: **As always, thanks to all my readers who stuck with me! For Kali, loved getting your reviews! You brought up a really good point about Marissa and Lea's job, so I hope I answered it in this chapter. Sometimes, as the action gets going, I forget about little details. Also, thanks to all the new readers that reviewed for this story! It's really made my day to get your reviews in between classes and work and family life. And to TychoV and Ani-maniac494 for all of their wonderful help and listening ears as I worked out the twists and turns in this story. In fact, some of them are theirs! As always, after this chapter, review and let me know what you think! ~lg

Return

Lorne finally found Lea on their balcony. She stood with her back to the view, clearly watching for him. He grinned slightly, but it faded quickly at her anxious look. "It's over."

"He's going to be okay?"

Evan moved to her side, taking her in his arms. "He's back to the Samuel Bates you thought you knew all this time." He ran a hand through her hair. "In fact, he's still the same guy. The brainwashing just conditioned him to do certain things."

"But it changed you."

"Because I had something to lose." He smiled at her as he said it.

Lea finally let a smile appear. "Can I see him later?"

"As soon as he's brought back to Atlantis." Lorne nodded. "I've already told Sheppard it'll be next to impossible to keep you away from the infirmary."

"How is Sheppard doing?"

"Not good." Lorne sobered again. He wasn't sure how Sheppard had done it. While he hadn't been in that pool, he'd watched Sheppard hold Bates under the water until clinically dead. Keller hadn't been thrilled about needing to revive another person, but she'd coped remarkably well. Lorne still felt sick. He never wanted to do something like that again!

Lea stirred. "And this Athena?"

"She's a Goa'uld who kidnapped a member of Cam's team several years ago. Vala Mal Doran. She's a member of the Trust. Or, well, was." Lorne shrugged. "I feel bad about the host, but I'm not sorry the snake is dead."

"You face some incredibly haunting things."

Wanting to change the subject, he touched her face. "But I come home to some pretty incredible ladies."

Lea flushed, and it never ceased to amaze him. How had he managed to find her? "What's up with Marissa?"

"On maternity leave." Lea grinned. "She's due any day now, and the doctor wants her on bed rest. I apologized for disappearing for all these months, but your cousin seems to have handled it. Danny told her that I was in protective custody-that my situation was related to a military project you'd worked on. She accepted that. And offered me my old job back."

"Are you going to take it?"

"I don't know." She grinned at him. "Let me think about it a little longer."

Lorne shook his head, still stunned at how things had worked out. He never wanted to put her through that agony again. With those thoughts in mind, he resolved to get the request for a transfer filed as soon as he was able to track down Sheppard. He planned to stick around and help Lea for many years to come.

oOo

After six months on Atlantis, Lea no longer felt like an outsider. She thought about the previous months and the difficulties she'd faced. Some of them had shaken her even more than Mark's death, but she'd come through alive and whole. Evan helped a lot with that, and she knew she'd never be complete without him. Even now, she couldn't believe she'd found another man to love as much as she'd loved Mark.

On Jessie's fifth birthday, she slipped onto their balcony and found Evan facing away from her, painting again. He still hadn't taken his last month of leave, but Lea knew he'd find the time eventually. The last two weeks had been difficult with the defeat of Athena and her cell of the Trust. The SGC sent commendations to Evan and scheduled a promotion ceremony. Lea grinned. Her major was about to become a lieutenant colonel.

"Hey." She slipped her arms around his waist from behind and propped her chin on his shoulder, eyeing the painting. "It's beautiful."

"It's done." Evan dropped his brush into the cup of water and set aside the palette he'd been using. Then, he turned and wrapped his arms around her. "What do you think?"

Lea laid her head against his chest as she studied the still-drying painting. He had finally finished the painting of her arbor. Though, now that she lived on Atlantis, she considered selling the house with its little garage apartment. But, if she sold the house, they'd have nothing to which to return. She absorbed the painting's sunny glow and smiled at the renderings of her and Jessie on the bench. A large book lay open on their laps, and Evan had painted the sunlight into their hair. "Like I said, it's beautiful."

He let out a deep breath, and she suddenly heard his heartbeat climb. She lifted her head, laughing when her cheek stuck to his shirt. He also laughed and dabbed a corner of his rag into the water, wiping the paint from her face. "Hazards of dating a painter."

"What color was I this time?" It wasn't the first time she'd acquired speckles of paint while being around him.

"Green with a dash of yellow." Evan's eyes sparkled, but he sobered quickly. "Hey, I've been needing to talk to you."

"Yeah, I know." She smiled. "I had some news, as well."

"You first."

Slightly exasperated at his chivalry, she decided to plunge into the topic that brought her to the balcony in the first place. "I got a new job." She watched the confusion cross his face. "I'm going to be moving away from Colorado Springs."

Evan's face fell. "I thought you were happy working for Marissa."

"I am." She smiled. "But I'm happier with you."

"Lea-"

"Let me finish." She laid the tips of her fingers over his mouth. "I was offered a job running the newly formed administrative department of a top secret military base. I'll be handling a massive amount of reports, requisition forms, and transfer paperwork, to name a few. Right now, the department consists of me, but I'll have several others working with me once it gets off the ground. After all, the base is expanding its personnel and adding a few new positions. Like that of child care and school teachers."

Evan blinked. "You. . . . You're. . . . Atlantis?"

She let her grin cover her face. "Yes!"

The expressions flashing across his face surprised her. Dismay. Surprise. Elation. And concern. "Are you sure that's what you want?"

"I made it through the last six months here." Lea shrugged. "I watched you die and come back to life. I don't ever want to go through that again, and I might just punch the guy who makes it necessary. But it's what I want. I don't think I can handle being an entire galaxy away from you when you go back to Pegasus."

"When I. . . ? Lea, I just filled out a transfer request yesterday." He took her by the shoulders. "I haven't turned it in, but I'm hoping to be transferred to an off world team at the SGC."

She laid a hand on his face, her thumb barely brushing the corner of his mouth. "I appreciate the gesture. But, really, I don't think I can live on Earth anymore. I know the Pegasus galaxy is just as dangerous, but it doesn't have the memories that Earth has. I know we'll have to come home eventually, but I need to get away. Besides," she added with a wry grin, "can you see Jessie keeping her mouth shut about all these wonders as she starts school?"

"No. Five-year-olds and 'classified' just don't combine." He grinned slowly. "You're really coming to Pegasus?"

"Yes."

"Then, there's something I need to do first." He pulled her close again. "I need to take you shopping. Because there's this very nice ring I saw online, and I'd like to take a look at it in person. If you're up for the trip."

Lea pulled back to stare in his face. "Evan Lorne, are you proposing?"

"Well, I was planning to wait until Jessie's birthday party later tonight, but, yeah, I guess I am." He met her eyes. "What do you say? Marry me?"

She stared at him, not really surprised given the direction their relationship had taken in the last few months. But hearing him actually ask the question thrilled her. She remembered how Mark had taken her to a fancy restaurant and dropped onto one knee. While Evan was just as sweet, his direct personality and dry humor separated his proposal from Mark's sappy one. She kissed him. "Yes," she said after they came up for air. "I'd love to marry you."

Evan kissed her again, this time with the promise of something better. That evening, at Jessie's lavish birthday party arranged by the various aunts and uncles who had adopted her after she'd come to Atlantis, Evan pulled Jessie onto his lap. He asked if he could become her new daddy, and the little girl strangled him with a happy hug. She told everyone that it was the best birthday gift she'd been given. And, by the time the party closed down, she called Evan "Daddy" for the first time.

Lea and Jessie took that trip to San Francisco with Evan a day later. They met his mother, Paige, first. The older woman was delighted to gain a granddaughter, and Lea and Evan left Jessie baking cookies with her new grandmother. As they walked through the jewelry store hand-in-hand, Lea thought about all the things her daughter had missed. Neither she nor Mark had any living family, and Jessie grew up only knowing distant friends. Cam and Deanna had helped, but they hadn't replaced the close family that Jessie found on Atlantis.

A month later, Evan and Lea said "I do" in a short ceremony on the beach. Marissa sat on the front row, content to surrender her matron-of-honor duties to Deanna in favor of watching her twin sons, Mark Evan and Andrew Mitchell. Bates even appeared, looking warily at the now-Lieutenant Colonel Lorne and his new bride. Evan offered the man an apology for threatening him after his foolish move in taking Lea to the SGC, and Bates seemed to relax quite a bit. Evan and Lea spent the first week of his month-long leave on a Caribbean cruise while Jessie stayed with her Grandma Paige in San Francisco. After returning to Atlantis tanned and fully relaxed, they retrieved Jessie and flew to Kentucky for the remaining three weeks. By the time she started her new job as head of Atlantis's administrative division, Lea couldn't believe she'd ever thought life without Evan was good. Evan's official adoption of Jessie only completed their little family.

Another month passed, and Evan rushed into her office. "Come on." He grabbed her hand and tugged her out of her chair. "You're going to want to see this."

Lea let him lead her to the control room, where controlled chaos reigned. McKay sat in the big middle of the noise, shouting orders at everyone and trying to do everything. Lea's adrenaline rose. She'd been hearing about this moment for weeks, and she sensed the tension and excitement in the room. Evan pushed her into a transporter, and they quickly found Jessie playing with Torren in the new school and day care center. Jessie greeted them enthusiastically, asking, "Is it time?"

Evan picked her up. "It's time." He walked toward a set of windows, and they stood and stared as the city began to shake.

Jessie looked at her father. "Who's driving?"

He laughed at her mistake. "Uncle John's flying the city."

"Oh." The little girl stared out the window for a moment. "How?"

"He has a special chair that he sits in." Evan blinked as he tried to explain the control chair to a five-year-old. Lea didn't blame him. She barely understood some of the technology.

Slowly, the ocean fell away, and Lea's stomach dropped just like when she flew in a plane. The sensation didn't stop, however. It grew as the city climbed higher into the sky. The shield glowed as it enclosed the artificial atmosphere, and Lea struggled to breathe as the moon grew larger and larger. This was better than any roller coaster she'd ever ridden. Then, some sort of opening in space appeared, and everything shifted. A maze of green passed the windows, and Jessie squealed and buried her face in Evan's neck. Before he finished laughing, another planet appeared. Lea blinked at the world with unfamiliar landmasses and a massive, glowing ocean.

Jessie looked up. "Are we there? Already?"

"Already." Evan took Lea's hand in his. "Hang on. The ride's going to get a little bumpy."

Lea braced herself on the window ledge as the city began its reentry. The shield glowed orange as the ocean flew up to meet them. Sheppard managed to slow the city at the last possible moment, resulting in a less than perfect but not incredibly bone-jarring landing. Lea let out a deep breath.

Evan looked at her. "Welcome to New Lantea, Lea Lorne." He grinned. "I didn't exactly get to carry you over the threshhold, but I think that ride about covered it."

She smiled at him, happy to be standing beside him at this moment. "Welcome home, Evan Lorne."

The End

COMING SOON!

_UNWANTED_

Sheppard sets out to help some new allies escape a natural disaster. Falling in love with the village outcast never entered his mind.


End file.
